Tony Vitello details Marcus Phillips being a pitcher first right now at Tennessee.
Sophomore Marcus Phillips took part in Tennessee baseball’s fall ball.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound pitcher and outfielder transferred to Tennessee from Iowa Western Community College.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello met with media on Thursday and discussed Phillips following fall ball.
“We asked the hitters, at times, who do you not like facing, or who is an uncomfortable at-bat, and the hitters don’t like facing him, I know that,” Vitello said of Phillips. “That feedback is probably more valuable than any of us standing there and critiquing his delivery or where he is at. I just know based off where he is from, how much he’s played, which is a lot, comes from the frozen tundra up there in the Dakotas, with all due respect, he’s just got a lot of room for growth. It’s ultra exciting to see where he is at right now, and then you kind of know how he progressed from August to now, so how is he going to progress from now until February when we start our season. That’s another thing to get excited about.
“While I think he can be dynamic with the bat, and we don’t want to give that up, I think right now he’s a pitcher first for us and he can really serve any role. You could name a role right now, and they’re all open. We know guys like Drew Beam can give us a large amount of innings, and Kirby (Connell) can be used a ton of times or for a bunch of appearances, but you could name a role right now and we don’t have a definitive answer, who’s going on what day or what spot, and he could fill any of those.”
Phillips is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
READ: Tennessee baseball’s 2024 schedule
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