Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 55 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50

Tennessee has a history of players breaking out after having to wait their turn, including Trey Lipscomb, who barely played in his first three seasons with the Volunteers before becoming a 2022 fourth-rounder and landing in the big leagues less than two years later. The latest is Tears, who redshirted in 2022 and got just 56 at-bats last spring while dealing with oblique and hamstring injuries. He suddenly has emerged as one of the toolsiest players in college baseball and one of the most productive hitters on Tennessee's College World Series championship team.

Tears has a relatively flat left-handed swing but creates at least plus raw power with his wicked bat speed and strength, generating a lot of hard line drives that carry over the fence to all parts of the ballpark. After often looking helpless against non-fastballs in the past, he's making better swing decisions and more consistent contact this spring. He shows the ability to put together quality at-bats and works walks when pitchers won't challenge him.

A physical athlete with an outstanding work ethic, Tears earns fringy to well-above-average grades for both his speed and arm strength. He's slower out of the batter's box and quicker once he gets going, though he's not much of a basestealer. He has played mostly right field for the Volunteers, though some evaluators believe he could handle center field at the next level.

Scouting grades: Hit: 35 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

Tears didn’t get consistent playing time until his junior year at Tennessee and broke out for that Men’s College World Series championship team, hitting .324/.427/.643 with 20 homers in 71 games. The Padres used their first compensation pick after the fourth round (a selection they received for losing Josh Hader in free agency) on the outfielder and signed him for $525,200. Tears dealt with a right hamstring strain in his first spring and never quite got going at Single-A Lake Elsinore, finishing with a .227/.320/.385 line, 13 homers and a 96 wRC+ in 107 games.

The left-handed slugger gets going with a big leg kick that helps him generate big bat speed, but he got exposed for being too rotational and getting too long with his swing in his first campaign against pro pitching. Tears especially struggled against changeups with a whiff rate of 58 percent against them, per Synergy, often showing an inability to manipulate the barrel going down and away from him, and that led to reverse splits in the California League. When he does make contact, it can be loud, and there’s still hope to be found in his exit velocities.

Tears is a better runner underway than he is out of the gate, and he was only 6-for-11 in stolen-base attempts in 2025. Once he gets the legs going -- and isn’t being bothered by the hamstring -- he can get moving in the outfield and he has the arm strength for right field. Tears spent much of last season at DH, however, and even mixed in three starts at first base. His priority in year two will be tightening up the swing in search of getting back to being the toolsy star he was as a Volunteer.

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 55 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 40

Tears redshirted at Tennessee in 2022 and then got only 56 at-bats due to hamstring and oblique injuries in 2023. No bother. Facing Draft eligibility last spring, the outfielder became one of college baseball’s toolsiest players and was a force for a Volunteers squad that went on to win the Men's College World Series. He finished with a .324/.427/.643 line and 20 homers in 71 games. The Padres selected Tears with their first compensation pick after the fourth round (the selection they got for losing Josh Hader in free agency) and signed him for slot value at $525,200.

Standing tall in the box as a left-handed hitter, Tears loads with a big leg kick and generates big bat speed that helps him drive the ball all over the park. He has at least plus raw power that helped him generate impressive exit velocities, even when adjusting for college and metal bats, and that pop was a huge piece of his Draft profile. There are more questions about his overall hit tool. He showed improved swing decisions as a junior but still ran just a 69.6 percent contact rate on his swings. A flat bat path could be partly to blame and could cap his overall offensive profile.

Tears is a better runner underway than he is out of the box or off the bag, so he may not be a huge stolen-base threat. But the running ability certainly helps him in the outfield. For Tennessee, he played mostly right field, where his plus arm strength certainly is an asset, but he could be average in center as well. Tears hasn’t played an official Minor League game entering 2025, and pro pitching will test just how much he can rely on his pure strength as a hitter. 

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 55 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50

Tennessee has a history of players breaking out after having to wait their turn, including Trey Lipscomb, who barely played in his first three seasons with the Volunteers before becoming a 2022 third-rounder and landing in the big leagues less than two years later. The latest was Tears, who redshirted in 2022 and got just 56 at-bats in '23 while dealing with oblique and hamstring injuries. He suddenly emerged as one of the toolsiest players in college baseball and one of the most productive hitters on Tennessee's College World Series championship team. The Padres selected him with the 134th overall pick (the selection they received for losing Josh Hader in free agency) and signed him for slot at $525,200.

Tears has a relatively flat left-handed swing but creates at least plus raw power with his wicked bat speed and strength, generating a lot of hard line drives that carry over the fence to all parts of the ballpark. After often looking helpless against non-fastballs in the past, he made better swing decisions and more consistent contact this spring. He shows the ability to put together quality at-bats and works walks when pitchers won't challenge him.

A physical athlete with an outstanding work ethic, Tears earns fringy to well-above-average grades for both his speed and arm strength. He's slower out of the batter's box and quicker once he gets going, though he's not much of a basestealer. He played mostly right field for the Volunteers, though some evaluators believe he could handle center field at the next level.

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	03/14/2026	OF Kavares Tears assigned to San Diego Padres.
	03/05/2026	OF Kavares Tears assigned to San Diego Padres Prospects.
	04/15/2025	OF Kavares Tears assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres.
	03/06/2025	activated OF Kavares Tears.
	08/05/2024	OF Kavares Tears assigned to ACL Padres.
	07/30/2024	San Diego Padres signed OF Kavares Tears.
	06/16/2024	College Workout activated OF Kavares Tears.
	02/06/2024	OF Kavares Tears assigned to Tennessee Volunteers.
	06/27/2023	Kingsport Axmen activated OF Kavares Tears.
	06/27/2023	Kingsport Axmen activated OF Kavares Tears.
	06/27/2023	OF Kavares Tears assigned to Kingsport Axmen.
	02/03/2023	Tennessee Volunteers activated OF Kavares Tears.
	02/03/2023	OF Kavares Tears assigned to Tennessee Volunteers.
	03/01/2022	OF Kavares Tears and assigned to Tennessee Volunteers.