Trent Grindlinger is entering his sophomore season with the Tennessee Volunteers. He is eligible for the 2027 MLB Draft.

The catcher from Huntington Beach, California is someone who could shoot up draft boards for the 2027 Draft. Many media outlets already think highly of Grindlinger as far as draft stock goes. For example, D1 Baseball named him a top-15 MLB Draft prospect for this upcoming season.

Grindlinger was one of six other Tennessee players to make D1 Baseball's top 100 list. The other players were Landon Mack, Blaine Brown, Levi Clark, Chris Ramirez, and Jake McCoy.

Grindlinger with a breakout freshman season in 2026, summer spent with team USA

Grindlinger started in 36 games for the Tennessee Volunteers last season. He had 145 at-bats and put together a .345 batting average and a .414 on-base percentage.

The catcher also had seven doubles, eight home runs, and 29 RBIs last season.

Grindlinger had multiple instances where he strung together hits in bunches. He had 15 multi-hit games in 2026. He had multi-hit games in all three games against the Alabama Crimson Tide in April and reached a career-high four hits in a 14-9 win over the Texas Longhorns.

The Tennessee catcher also finished the season on a high note. Despite the Volunteers losing back-to-back games in the Chapel Hill Regional to VCU and East Carolina, Grindlinger had two hits in each of those contests and scored a run.

He finished the 2026 college baseball season as a part of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman team and was also a part of the USA Collegiate National Team during the summer.

During the 2026 World Collegiate Baseball Championship in Taiwan, Grindlinger made two starts at catcher behind the plate. He also tallied a hit in a 10-0 run-rule win for Team USA against Korea during the event.

The star power is there, and the Volunteers could have a contender for SEC Player of the Year on their hands if everything comes together.

Tennessee season results in 2026

The 2026 college baseball season was Josh Elander's first season as the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. He took over for Tony Vitello, the manager of the San Francisco Giants.

The Volunteers finished with a 38-22 overall record and a 15-15 record in SEC play. They made the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season.

For more NCAA news: https://worldbaseball.com/news/category/ncaa