Tennessee earns transfer portal commit from slugger Cannon Peebles
The transfer portal market has been heating up for Tennessee in recent days and the Volunteers secured a massive commitment on Tuesday as former NC State freshman Cannon Peebles announced his intentions to play for Tony Vitello in Knoxville.
Peebles spent one season in Raleigh, N.C. after coming in from Ashland, Va. The switch hitter logged 30 starts as the club’s designated hitter and nine more behind the plate as his natural position is at catcher.
As an NCBWA First Team Freshman All-American and member of the All-ACC Freshman Team, Peebles led the Wolfpack with a .352 batting average, .697 slugging percentage and .456 on-base percentage. He tied for the team-high of 50 RBI and was second with 12 home runs over just 142 at-bats.
Peebles notched 13 multi-hit contests with 11 multi-RBI games and registered a stellar stat line against NJIT on March 4 where he went 6-for-6 with three doubles, two home runs, two runs scored and 10 RBI. The slugger picked up Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week honors following the game, as well as earning the Golden Spikes National Performance of the Week accolades.
The catcher becomes Tennessee’s second addition from the transfer portal this offseason – joining former Jacksonville State right-handed pitcher AJ Causey who committed on Friday. The window opened on May 30 and remains open for 45 days until July 13.
So far, the Vols have lost seven players to the portal, a list that includes pitchers Chase Burns, Jake Fitzgibbons, Hollis Fanning, Jacob Bimbi, Shawn Scott, Turner Swistak and outfielder Alex Stanwhich.
Last offseason, Tennessee was active in the transfer portal by adding key components to the roster who would go on to compete in the College World Series. Those players included shortstop Maui Ahuna, third baseman Zane Denton, outfielder Griffin Merritt and pitcher Andrew Lindsey.
