Tennessee baseball pitcher records 0.00 ERA halfway through Summer League

Tennessee baseball pitcher Tanner Franklin joined the Chatham Anglers as a pitcher in the Cape Cod Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league, and has been dominant on the mound this summer. 

The Cape Cod League is often considered the best summer league in the country for collegiate players and boasts some of the best and brightest future stars in college baseball. 

Franklin has earned a spot in the CCBL All-Star Game after an impressive first half of the season. He has pitched 9.2 innings and recorded 14 strikeouts with zero earned runs, spotting a 0.00 ERA. That's an impressive stat line in one of the premier collegiate summer leagues in the country.

Franklin is one of the handful of new arms joining the Vols 2025 pitching staff through the transfer portal from Kennesaw State. The Jefferson City, Tennessee native posted a 5.60 ERA through 27.1 innings and 43 strikeouts. 

He's a strikeout pitcher and has continued to average multiple strikeouts per inning in the Cape Cod League and the past two seasons with Kennesaw State. 

After announcing his decision to leave Kennesaw State, Franklin told 247Sports he felt Tennessee was the best spot for him. "I felt like God was telling me to go there. It's home at the end of the day. That's what led to the decision.

"I was looking for somewhere I can go and develop as a person, but also as a player, somewhere it's fun playing baseball," Franklin said. " When you watch Tennessee, they have fun every single day. It doesn't matter if it's a practice or a game, whatever it is. They're enjoying being out there and are after the same thing. That's something I was looking for."

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound right-handed pitcher hit 99 mph with his fastball, bringing nasty stuff with his intimidating mound presence. 

If he can continue his dominance with the Vols, we could see Tennessee gear up for another trip to Omaha and a run at the College World Series for the second straight season.