Photo via Bowling Green Baseball

Tennessee baseball transfer commit DJ Newman has signed with the Houston Astros, the franchise announced Wednesday. The Astros selected Newman in the 15th round of the MLB Draft earlier last week and the two-way transfer will start his professional career instead of coming to Tennessee.

Newman was highly productive on both the mound and at the plate in the first three years of his college career. The 6-foot right-hander hit .419 with nine doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 25 games played as a junior. In his sophomore season, Newman hit .371 with 10 home runs, six doubles and 37 RBIs.

The Ohio native has also impressed on the mound, posting a 3.77 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched in 2025. As a sophomore, Newman posted a 4-2 record and 3.61 ERA while striking out 42 batters in 42.1 innings pitched. Newman was Bowling Green’s Friday night both in his sophomore and junior seasons.

The two-way standout was a Second Team All-MAC selection during the 2024 season and a Freshman All-American in 2023. A knee injury ended Newman’s junior season on April 7 and led to him not earning any end of season honors this past year.

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Tennessee certainly would have liked to have the talented two-way player on its roster next season but the loss is far from crippling. The Vols have reloaded on the mound and will bring six transfer pitchers to campus after landing nine commitments.

Tony Vitello and his staff have multiple capable starting pitchers including Rutgers transfer Landon Mack, sophomore Tegan Kuhns, Virginia transfer Evan Blanco and redshirt junior Brandon Arvidson. Arvidson returning for a second year at Tennessee was the biggest surprise of the draft for the Vols.

Newman was a corner outfielder when playing in the field and that’s where his loss is more interesting. Virginia transfer Henry Ford is an outfielder as is Rice two-way Blaine Brown. Rising sophomore Jay Abernathy projects as a centerfielder for his sophomore season while sophomore Chris Newstrom could also play the corner outfield spots as well as multiple infield spots.

The most interesting situation for the outfield is whether Reese Chapman and Dalton Bargo will return for their senior seasons. Both started in the outfield for Tennessee a year ago and unexpectedly went unselected in the MLB Draft.

It’s currently unclear whether the duo will return to Tennessee, or sign an undrafted free agent deal to begin their professional careers.