Tennessee
Chase Dollander called up by Colorado Rockies, another Tennessee baseball pitcher in MLB
Chase Dollander was called up by the Colorado Rockies on Friday, setting up the Tennessee baseball product to make his MLB debut.
Dollander is the seventh player from the Tony Vitello era to reach the major leagues. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft is the third to do so with the Rockies, following outfielder Jordan Beck and pitcher Seth Halvorsen. Beck and Halvorsen made their MLB debuts last season and are on the Rockies’ roster.
Dollander was ranked as the No. 25 MLB prospect in January and is Colorado’s top prospect. He is 27-11 with a 3.32 ERA in 69 minor league games with 66 starts. He has 466 strikeouts in 339 innings with 120 walks.
He made 23 starts in the minor leagues between High-A Spokane and AA Hartford last season. He was 6-2 with a 2.59 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 118 innings with 47 walks. He opened the season with AAA Albuquerque, where he made one start and struck out five in four innings of one-run baseball.
Chase Dollander called up to MLB by Colorado Rockies
Dollander had 238 strikeouts in 168 innings at Tennessee and had a 3.64 ERA at Tennessee in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Evans, Georgia, native went 10-0 with a 2.39 ERA in 2022 and was named the SEC pitcher of the year. He earned numerous All-American honors for his sophomore season. He was 7-6 with a 4.75 ERA as a junior in 2023, but settled in late in the season after a rocky start in the first couple months.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Dollander struck out 10 or more batters nine times in 31 starts for Tennessee.
He is the highest-drafted pitcher under Vitello and only Christian Moore was drafted higher. Moore was picked No. 8 by the Los Angeles Angels in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Dollander transferred to Tennessee after a strong freshman season at Georgia Southern, where he was 4-3 with a 4.01 ERA.
Chase Dollander is the seventh Vol coach by Tony Vitello to reach MLB
Dollander is the fifth Vol currently in the major leagues.
Pitcher Garrett Crochet debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 2020 when he skipped the minor leagues and debuted in the same year he was drafted No. 11 overall. He earned an all-star bid in 2024 as a star starter for the White Sox, who traded him to the Boston Red Sox before the 2025 season.
Pitcher Ben Joyce debuted for the Los Angeles Angels on May 29, 2023, less than a year after the hard-throwing reliever was selected in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft.
Beck, who was the No. 38 pick in the 2022 draft, made his debut with the Colorado Rockies on April 30, 2024. Halvorsen was called up on August 30, 2024, and made his debut a day later with the Colorado Rockies.
Andre Lipcius made his debut on Sept. 1, 2023 with the Detroit Tigers, who drafted Lipcius in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft with the No. 83 pick. Trey Lipscomb debuted with the Washington Nationals on March 30, 2024. He was picked in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Lipcius and Lipscomb are currently at AAA with the White Sox and Nationals, respectively.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it
Tennessee
Sick and tired: Counties near Chattanooga are now reporting highest flu rates in Tennessee
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn — Tennessee health officials say flu activity is rising sharply in around Chattanooga, with counties surrounding Hamilton showing some of the highest rates in the state.
Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bradley, Meigs, Rhea, Bledsoe, McMinn and Polk counties are currently the only areas in Tennessee rated “very high” for influenza activity by the Tennessee Dept. of Health. Photo via the Tennessee Health Dept.
Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bradley, Meigs, Rhea, Bledsoe, McMinn and Polk counties are currently the only areas in Tennessee rated “very high” for influenza activity by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These counties have flu positivity rates greater than 10 percent. By comparison, the statewide average is 6.5 percent, and Hamilton County itself is at 6.9 percent.
State and federal health experts say the surge comes as influenza A(H3N2) continues to circulate widely. The CDC reports at least 11 million flu illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths nationwide so far this season. One pediatric death was reported this week in Tennessee, bringing the season total to nine nationwide.
File photo: Getty Images.
Georgia officials are also reporting higher-than-average flu activity, signaling that the region is experiencing a particularly active season. Health authorities encourage residents six months and older to get vaccinated if they have not already and to take precautions such as frequent handwashing and staying home when sick.
Flu activity is expected to remain elevated in Tennessee and across the U.S. for several more weeks, according to the CDC. Local hospitals and clinics are urging families to monitor symptoms and seek care early, especially for children, older adults, and those with chronic health conditions.
For the latest guidance on influenza vaccination and antiviral treatments, visit the Tennessee Department of Health or the CDC at cdc.gov.
Tennessee launched the country’s first-ever public database tracking and listing convicted domestic abusers as part of a ratified law honoring a sheriff’s deputy who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend.
The database, which officially launched on Jan. 1, includes offenders’ names, photos and dates of birth and is part of Savanna’s Law. The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in May 2025 and required the state to establish the registry in Savanna Puckett’s name.
Puckett, a 22-year-old Robertson County Sheriff’s deputy, was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend, James Conn, at her home on Jan. 23, 2022. Conn had a lengthy history of domestic assault arrests that Puckett had no knowledge of before they began dating.
Conn shot Puckett in the torso and head before he set her home on fire. He pleaded guilty to her murder in August 2023 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Puckett’s distraught mother, Kim Dodson, was determined to save other domestic abuse victims from her daughter’s fate and began pushing state lawmakers for change.
She was a staunch advocate for the bill’s passage and said that if the registry had existed sooner, her daughter might still be alive.
“I was just horrified when I finally saw all those records because I know Savanna well enough that she would have never dated him. I honestly, honestly, honestly feel that if she had known that she could still be here,” Dodson told WSMV.
The domestic abuser registry is run through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and lists anyone in the state who has been convicted of at least two domestic violence-related charges, according to the website.
However, the offender’s registration is dependent on the accusing victim. If the victim doesn’t consent to their abuser’s name being included, then the offender can bypass the registry.
The database doesn’t include info on offenders convicted before the new year, so the current list is limited. But it was made in the mirror image of the state’s sex offender registry, which is more fleshed out with decades-worth of listings.
The sex offender registry includes a rolling queue of “wanted violators” and a “map of offenders.”
Tennessee has previously ranked among the top 10 states with the most domestic violence homicides. In 2019, it tied for fifth with South Carolina in a separate list detailing the states with the highest femicide rates, WTVF reported.
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