As good as Tennessee baseball is right now, they have a chance to get that much better down the road. The Volunteers are playing it slow with right-hander AJ Russell, working him back from Tommy John surgery.
Russell made his second appearance of the season on Tuesday night, working one inning to start the game against Tennessee Tech. It was the same amount of work he got in his first start, which was also a midweek game.
On Tuesday, Russell threw 12 pitches during the inning, striking out two batters and giving up one hit.
“It was good that it was efficient, because right or wrong, and maybe kind of put a little extra pressure on the kid and told him, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be four or five hitters no matter what,’ Tony Vitello said of the plan for Russell on Tuesday.