Can Indiana Baseball’s Slugger Devin Taylor Crush The Sophomore Slump, Too?
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Heading into this Indiana baseball season, reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Devin Taylor was unanimously chosen by three college outlets as the preseason favorite for Big Ten Player of the Year. D1Baseball even ranked Taylor as the No. 14 outfielder in the nation.
Taylor downplays the lofty expectations.
“I'm not a big fan of all of it,” Taylor said Jan. 26 about preseason predictions. “I mean, it's cool to see, like take a little peek at it. But after that, it’s all about baseball … doing the same thing (as last season). Playing the game I love and results will come. I don't really chase results.”
Taylor worked his way into the heart of Indiana’s lineup by mid-March last season and stayed there for good reason, knocking in an Indiana all-time freshman record 59 runs and hitting 16 homers to lead the Hoosiers. He was only three homers shy of matching teammate Carter Mathison’s all-time freshman-best 19 home runs two seasons ago.
Last season, Mathison’s home runs declined to 10 while his batting average spiked by 38 points to .311. Indiana would be in great shape if everyone on the team did that. Yet, Mathison did experience a sophomore slump in the first half of the season. Two months into the season, he batted .264 — with only four homers.
Mathison’s second-half spree significantly raised his numbers.
Then there’s Matthew Ellis, the other half of Indiana’s bash brothers in 2022. Two seasons ago, Ellis transferred to Indiana from Walters State Community College and mashed 18 home runs. Last season, the redshirt senior got hurt and didn’t play after the first week of April. It’s unknown if the injury nagged him, but in 24 games Ellis batted .250 with four homers. The sophomore slump had hit again.
Mathison is back for this season in 2024, and Ellis has transferred to Georgia Tech.
But the spotlight shines on Taylor, a left-handed power-hitter like Mathison and Ellis. Cold streaks are normal in baseball, and Taylor briefly had one at the end of last season. Will he experience a sophomore slump? The disadvantage for returning sophomore sluggers is that now teams have had abundant stats, film, and time to prepare in the offseason. Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer doesn’t sound concerned.
“The good thing for Devin is there's not very many holes,” Mercer said. “A lot of times there'll be okay, so this is an obvious apparent hole that you've shown. If you look at the heat maps and whatnot, then everyone else is gonna see that, too. But for Devin, there's not really those holes … And Devin has been in the facility, watching video and watching how they pitched Carter. How do you pitch Carter? How do you pitch Phillip Glasser? How did they pitch me?”
“You don't just get the typical fastball away until you hit it kind of thing,” Mercer said.
Mercer said Taylor must be willing to continue to hit to all parts of the field, which he did last season. He also must be willing to take walks, trusting teammates beside him in the lineup to do damage. Then opposing pitchers will eventually have to pitch to Taylor. Mercer mentioned staying “steadfast” to plate discipline and pitch selections.
Then, the head coach cast aside the nitty-gritty details about someone he recruited back in middle school and just talked about talent. After all, Taylor won the Greater Catholic League South Player of the Year in Ohio — during his freshman year in high school. Taylor batted .443 that season and wound up being Perfect Game’s No. 2 prospect in the state years later.
“He played for the Midland Redskins, an 18-U team, when he was 16 years old,” Mercer said. “He's been in the position where he's been a known commodity and he's tried to be pitched around … since he was 14 or 15 years old. So, he'll be mature I think and handle his at-bats. The other guys are gonna have to take care of when he gets walked, which he is going to.”
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