Trent Grindlinger

Grindlinger was a highly regarded high school prospect who would end up being one of the top names in the 2025 MLB Draft to make it onto a college campus. Grindlinger simply hasn't looked back, he's become one of the best catchers in the SEC, now hitting in the meat of a loaded Tennessee lineup.

Grindlinger has a physical look about him in the box. He starts slightly open with a higher hand set, utilizing a bigger leg kick to time up. Grindlinger has impressive bat speed and is on the barrel with consistency. He's peaked with exit velocities north of 113 mph, showing off plus raw power he's getting to at a solid clip. Grindlinger isn't the type of slugger who sells out with a pull-side approach. Instead he tends to shoot the ball up the middle or to the opposite field, and has still been able to slug at a solid clip without selling out to loft the ball due to his batted ball quality. Grindlinger has pretty rare bat-to-ball skills for a player with his bat speed and larger frame, and could eventually grow into an above-average or better hit tool. Grindlinger does have a bit of an aggressive approach and didn't walk much throughout his freshman year in Knoxville. Still, through modeling using swing decisions and bat-to-ball outcomes, Grindlinger's expected walk rate ended up being about 5% higher than his actual walk rate in 2026.

Grindingler is fringy to below-average runner who likely won't provide much value with his legs. He's a solid defender behind the plate with above-average arm strength. Grindlinger will be a draft-eligible sophomore in 2027, just 21 years old on draft day.