Cameron Appenzeller to play for Tennessee baseball, turns down draft
Another win for Tennessee baseball on Monday afternoon as elite left-handed prep signee Cameron Appenzeller is turning down professional opportunities to play baseball at Tennessee, Volquest has learned. Mike Wilson of Kox News was first to report.
Appenzeller was always considered a toss up to make it to campus heading into draft weekend.
Appenzeller is a 6-foot-6, 180-pond southpaw that projects well at the next level. He possesses a fastball in the mid-90s with a plus curveball and changeup. Perfect Game ranks the lefty as the No. 22 prospect in the 2025 class and the No. 3 left-handed pitcher.
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Coming into draft weekend, Appenzeller was tabbed as the No. 58 prospect by MLB Pipeline and the No. 52 prospect by Baseball America.
Tennessee had great success with the 2024 signing class last summer, surviving several draft battles and getting plenty of talent to Knoxville. The Vols’ highest-rated signee Anson Seibert made it to campus. Fellow top-100 recruits (Perfect Game) Levi Clark, Tegan Kuhns, Jay Abernathy, Brayden Krenzel, Manny Marin and Jaxon Walker also turned down professional opportunities to come and play for Tennessee.
Scouting Report from MLB.com
Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50
“Illinois has spawned four high school pitchers who signed for first-round money in the last three Drafts — Owen Murphy, Noah Schultz, Blake Wolters, Ryan Sloan — and has another possibility for 2025. Appenzeller is one of the more projectable left-handers available and has a higher ceiling at the same stage than fellow Glenwood HS (Chatham) product Reid Detmers, who became a first-rounder after three years at Louisville. His stuff took a step forward in 2024 and teams believe he has much more left in his tank, though his late start this spring after playing basketball has limited the ability to evaluate him.
Appenzeller boosted his fastball from the mid-80s as a sophomore to the upper 80s as a junior to the low 90s last summer, topping out at 94 mph, but then operated at 84-89 this spring. He can generate carry on a four-seamer and armside run and sink on a two-seamer. He gets plenty of horizontal action on an upper-70s slider, and his low-80s changeup fades in the opposite direction.
Appenzeller still has plenty of room to put weight on his athletic 6-foot-6 frame, which should add more power to his fastball and slider and create more separation between his heater and changeup. The Tennessee recruit repeats his delivery well, filling the strike zone from a low, wide arm angle that is tough on left-handed hitters. He combines stuff and savvy and also draws praise for his mound presence.”
