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What Tony Vitello said about Liam Doyle being drafted No. 5 overall by Cincinnati

On3 imageby: Eric Cain07/13/25_Cainer
Liam Doyle

Tennessee left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle became the highest-drafted Vol of the Tony Vitello era, the second-highest drafted pitcher in program history and the highest drafted Vols since Nick Senzel in 2016 when the Cardinals took the southpaw at No. 5 overall in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Tony Vitello, who was on the MLB Network set providing draft analysis for the first round, was quick to comment on his star pitcher from the 2025 season and his new home.

“I love it for him. What a phenomenal kid to be around,” Vitello said seconds after the selection. “I think he’s got a bright future on the mound.”

Doyle, who transferred from Ole Miss to Tennessee ahead of the 2025 season, was a dominant pitcher in college baseball this year. The Tennessee ace finished with a 10-4 record in 17 starts and 19 appearances. He had a 3.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and struck out 164 against just 32 walks over 95.2 innings pitched.

“Last year when he was pitching at Mississippi, he would often just kind of beat himself. Guys wouldn’t really get to him. He would run out of steam because he was flat out out of shape,” Vitello continued. “He would run out of pitches because he didn’t throw enough strikes.

“This year, he loses 19 pounds of body fat, gets to work, gets in shape, throws a ton of strikes.”

The southpaw finished second nationally to LSU’s Kade Anderson with 164 strikeouts this past season and is the Tennessee single-season record holder in the category. Doyle was also named a Finalist for both the prestigious Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards, along with winning Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and Perfect Game (national) Pitcher of the Year honors.

“Quentin Eberhardt was our guy and if you would have saw August and September when they first report to school, you would have thought, this kid may transfer out of this place. It’s not gonna work,” Vitello laughed. “But he bowed up just like he bowed up here, just too much. He bowed up to our strength coach and Q and he now are best of friends because of the conditioning level that Liam’s in and he had to work for it. It’s a great story for kids that are out there.

“Everybody has got something to work at. And again, even though he was a good pitcher, he attacked his weaknesses and he elevated his status.”

Doyle was a consensus first team All-American as a junior. He was listed as the No. 8 prospect by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America ahead of the draft. The slot value for the No. 5 pick is $8,134,800.

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