AJ Russell selected by Rangers in second round of MLB Draft

Tennessee right-handed pitcher AJ Russell was selected in the second round of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers with the No. 52 overall pick. He became the fifth Tennessee player drafted on Sunday night.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder combined for a 4-2 record and a 2.70 ERA over 70 innings pitched throughout his three-year Volunteer career. Russell struck out 104 batters and walked just 26 in the process. The slot value assigned to the No. 52 overall pick is $1,846,700.

As a senior in 2025, the righty appeared in 12 games, starting six of them, and contributed a 2-1 record with a 3.55 ERA. Russell tossed 25.1 innings with 36 strikeouts and 11 walks. His sophomore year was derailed by injuries as he appeared in just six games (four starts) to log only 14.1 innings.

The pitcher was a NCBWA All-American and three-time Freshman All-American as a rookie in 2023, appearing in 21 games for an 0.89 ERA across 30.1 innings pitched.   

Russell was limited for the majority of his second year in the program after beginning the 2024 campaign as the club’s Opening Day starter. After some time off, rehab and a couple of returns to the mound following the initial injury, Russell needed Tommy John surgery in June of last summer.

Surgery was a success and proved a shorter recovery timeline as the repair was done with an internal brace, putting him on track to be back on the mound for the Orange & White in 2025. Russell made his return on February 24, pitching a clean 1-2-3 inning, but was then slow played back the rest of the year before finding a role as a swingman on the staff towards the end of conference play.

Russell was slated as the No. 70 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 37 from Baseball America ahead draft weekend.

Scouting Report from MLB.com

Fastball: 70 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 55 | Overall: 50

“Russell had a spectacular freshman season as a reliever at Tennessee in 2023, posting an 0.89 ERA, .095 average-against and a 47/7 K/BB ratio in 30 1/3 innings. Expected to join the Volunteers’ weekend rotation as a sophomore, he left his second start with shoulder soreness, felt pain in his forearm when he returned a month later and had internal brace surgery to repair his elbow last June. If completely healthy, he’d go in the top half of the first round, but Tennessee has brought him back slowly this spring.

Russell has a unicorn fastball that could grade as a true 80 offering if he adds more velocity. It sits at 92-94 mph and tops out at 98 with the best heater metrics in the Draft thanks to an exceptionally low release point, wide angle, significant armside run and carry up in the zone. He can get swings-and-misses inside and outside of the strike zone with his fastball, and on the rare occasions when hitters make contact, they almost never drive it in the air.

A low-80s slider with plenty of horizontal action gives Russell a plus second pitch, though he has yet to show much feel for his mid-80s changeup with sink. He has pounded the zone and dominated when healthy but his durability is a huge question mark, as he also dealt with soreness as a freshman. He has the upside of frontline starter and the stuff to close games if he can’t handle a rotation workload.”