The Rockaway Wave
Originally Published July 31, 2026
On July 11, 2023, Bryce Jenkins was faced with a choice: Does he sign with the New York Mets, or does he return to the University of Tennessee?
“It was tough,” Jenkins said. “I went back and forth, even throughout the whole draft process, back and forth.”
The Tennessee Volunteers hold special meaning for Jenkins, a Knoxville kid. The Vols were his favorite team growing up, and he would go to baseball games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium as a kid.
He had season tickets for Tennessee football. He was at the double-overtime game in 2015 when Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners came to town, which he described as the best and the loudest football game he’s ever been at. Longtime New York Giant Sterling Shepard caught the winning touchdown pass in that game, by the way.
He was in the stadium as a student in 2022 when Tennessee knocked off Alabama 52-49 on a walk-off field goal. He stormed the field as others—not him—tore down the goalposts. He did get to touch it as it made its way out of the stadium, though. He was a diehard, through and through.
Jenkins didn’t start his college career at Tennessee. Leaving high school, he was actually committed to Murray State University, a DI program. However, after some discussion, he decided to go the junior college route instead. This was at a time where transferring wasn’t as easy as it is now, so he would have essentially been locking himself into Murray State. By going to a JUCO first, he would be guaranteed an opportunity to transfer to a bigger school after two seasons.
With his eyes set on Tennessee, Jenkins began his college career at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, Tennessee. He was playing his games a little over an hour away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“Going in, playing right away—I actually played outfield and pitched, so I was on the field all the time—just gave me the opportunity to show my skills for the next level,” Jenkins said.
He had a successful three seasons for Cleveland State—it ended up being three because of the impact COVID-19 had on the 2020 season—where he was used primarily as a starter when pitching. He even threw a handful of complete games along the way.
After his third year, he attended a showcase for all the JUCO teams in the area, held at Lipscomb University in Nashville. Tennessee saw him there and offered him. He said he wanted to commit on the spot, but gave it 24 hours before making it official.
“Everybody knew I wanted to go there, everybody was pumped for me,” Jenkins said. “Us being a JUCO in Tennessee, that’s the big school. Being from Knoxville, I had a lot of high school teammates I played with on that team, so everyone was pumped, super excited.”
Then it was time for his homecoming. Jenkins can still remember the first time he put on that Tennessee Volunteer uniform. At least, somewhat.
“A lot of nerves,” he said. “The first time I pitched, couldn’t tell you what happened. Kind of blacked out out there, didn’t really feel much going on. But got through it, and then kind of settled in, and just took it all in.”
He shortened up big time with Tennessee, going from the rotation to the bullpen. The days of throwing complete games were in the past. When starting, the job is to set the tone. When relieving, the job is to get the couple of guys you need to and get it. It’s much more of an adrenaline rush, he said.
Following his first year at Tennessee, Jenkins was selected by the Mets with the 516th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. With one more year of eligibility remaining, he could have returned to Tennessee and pitched another season for his favorite team. Once you leave college, you can’t go back. Pro ball would still be there next year, but there’s also no guarantee the opportunity would present itself again as a 17th-round reliever who would be one year older.
He had to make the choice.
“I knew getting into the Mets’ system, when they called me, they talked about this development and that development and what they’d help me with, and it just seemed like it was time to go,” Jenkins said. “God had a plan, and it was time to get into pro ball.”
Jenkins threw a handful of games in rookie ball and Single-A to finish 2023 and was lined up for his first full season of pro ball in 2024. Then, at the end of spring training—about three days before he was supposed to head to Brooklyn—he got hurt.
He said he went through his normal throwing and lifting routine and felt good, but woke up with forearm tightness the next day. After getting an MRI and trying to build it back up with to no success, they decided he needed to undergo Tommy John surgery.
“The biggest thing was trying to take the positive outlook on it,” Jenkins said. “Most of the time in baseball, it’s a full year run. You don’t get a full year to just develop your skills, get stronger, all that stuff. So right away, I just took it in. I’m gonna work out, I’m gonna train, learn that new slider again, keep developing that, and then just keep going from there.”
In the first six months post-TJ, you don’t get to pick up a baseball. For the first few weeks he could barely even walk because his UCL was replaced by a tendon from his hamstring.
“You try to figure out who you are again,” Jenkins said. “You look forward to throwing every day, seeing how you’re feeling, but when you’re not throwing, it’s just like, what do I do?”
Instead, he did weight training and recovery. Once those six months were up, he said, time flew by. Throw at 60 feet. Throw at 90 feet. Throw at 120 feet. Bullpens. Live looks.
“Before you blink, it’s over,” he said.
Six-hundred and fifty-seven days after he threw his final pitch in a game in 2023, Jenkins stepped back onto a mound for live, in-game action. He appeared in 11 games between rookie ball and Sinlge-A to end 2025.
He went to pitch in the Arizona Fall League following the season. There, he had 2026 AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner Kevin McGonigle playing shortstop behind him and had former Cyclones Nick Morabito, Chris Suero, John Bay and D’Andre Smith on the roster with him. He struggled with his control a bit both to end the regular season and in Arizona, which is common for pitchers coming off of an injury like his.
“He was able to compete, but not at his best,” Cyclones pitching coach Luis Alvarado, who was Jenkins’ pitching coach last year in Single-A, said. “It’s understandable, coming back from so many years away from the game, and now, after putting that year under his belt, coming in to Brooklyn and being able to get more exposure … we’re giving him the chance to pitch and he’s executing.”
Jenkins was assigned to Brooklyn to begin 2026, and he’s been stellar for the Cyclones. In 30 appearances, he’s posted a 2.09 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 15 walks over 38 and 2/3 innings. A lot of the success has been thanks to his new slider.
It in the Fall League, with former Brooklyn Cyclones pitching coach and current New York Mets assistant pitching coach Dan McKinney, where he really hammered down the pitch. It’s a shorter, harder one to pair with the heater and the bigger, slurve-like slider he’s always had.
The new slider has been a huge addition, and he’s using it to both get ahead in the count and put hitters away.
“It’s really been my most confident pitch to go to in any situation, which is huge because having the fastball and the big breaking ball, it’s easier for the hitters to tell them apart” Jenkins said. “So having that little middle pitch, it’s helped me a lot.”
The new slider generally sits in the high-80s, but Alvarado said he’s seen him flash it at 90-91 mph. It is a true slider, too, not a cutter. He generally sits 93-94 mph on his fastball and tops out
at 96 with induced vertical break up to the 18 to 20 inch range. He also has a changeup in development, but it’s not in use yet.
It’s a good overall arsenal for a relief pitcher—especially if he can figure out the changeup—but the slider is the star.
“I always tell him he has big-league stuff, from the fastball to the slider,” Alvarado said. “I think it’s one of the best sliders in the league.”
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