The Tennessee baseball season is now in the books after the Vols failed to get out of the Chapel Hill regional without winning a single game. With the transfer portal now open and the MLB draft a month away, the reshaping of the team for next season shifts into focus as the primary objective for Josh Elander and his staff.

Speaking of the draft, one player who has put himself firmly in position to hear his name called early in Major League Baseball’s premier amateur event is pitcher Tegan Kuhns. The Vols’ ace came on strong in SEC play after an early season hiccup, and he will likely be the first Tennessee player to hear his name called in the draft.

How soon could that be? According to ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel, it could be in the 30s, which projects into the supplemental picks between the first and second second rounds.

In McDaniel’s latest mock draft, Kuhns joins three fellow former Vols with the Colorado Rockies at pick No. 37.

ESPN MLB insider tabs Tennessee pitcher Tegan Kuhns to Colorado Rockies with pick No. 37 in latest mock draft

The Rockies have collected a number of former Vols who have earned spots on their 40-man roster.

Pitchers Chase Dollander and Seth Halvorsen are there, as is outfielder Jordan Beck. Dollander and Halvorsen were both selected in the 2023 draft by the Rockies. Colorado tabbed Dollander with the No. 9 overall pick and took Halvorsen in the seventh round. They took Beck with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2022 draft.

Dollander and Beck are currently on the injured list, while Halvorsen pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief on Friday for the Rockies against Tony Vitello’s Giants.

It’s realistic to see Kuhns joining his former Tennessee mates in Denver. But then again, who doesn’t want a long righty with fastball reaching the upper 90s and a nasty curveball who struck out 106 to just 16 walks last year?