Indiana University Athletics
D1 Baseball Fall Report: Indiana
10/23/2024 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana has done a lot of things right during the Jeff Mercer era. There's a reason the Hoosiers won the Big Ten in his first season at the helm and have been to the NCAA Tournament in three of five full seasons since he and his staff took over.
They've annually put together physical, dangerous lineups that can score runs in bunches. They've had pitching staffs full of high-end stuff and professional prospects.
But one thing that has largely alluded IU in this time period is being an above-average defensive team. It hasn't fielded above .970 as a team since 2018, the last season in which Chris Lemonis was the head coach.
Given that reality, Mercer and his staff attacked that this offseason by bringing in quality defensive players and putting in the work with the returners. In fall exhibitions over the last several weeks against Louisville on the road and Cincinnati at home, the work has shown signs of paying off.
"I think we maybe made one error against Louisville and no errors against Cincinnati, and we turned a bunch of double plays," Mercer said. "I was really pleased with the way that we played defensively, and that being a main focus for us, I was pleased in that regard."
On paper, the 2025 team returns yet another lineup that could be the best in the Big Ten and a pitching staff with good stuff up and down the depth chart. Improved team defense would make run prevention that much better, and that has to place the Hoosiers among the favorites to win the league next spring.
Returners Galore in the Lineup
The centerpiece of the Indiana lineup is junior outfielder Devin Taylor, who was a superstar upon his arrival at Indiana, but who really took things to another level last season by batting .357/.449/.660 with 20 home runs and 54 RBIs.
Taylor can really, really hit. He has excellent bat-to-ball skills (leading to a very low strikeout rate), a balanced swing and good bat speed that helps him achieve above-average raw power. Taylor's bat is what stands out, but he's also capable of playing all three outfield positions, where his feel for the game helps him overcome his average speed and throwing arm. He'll get a shot to play center field in the spring, but he'll be in a heated competition for that position, and he may ultimately be ticketed for a return to left field.
Not only is Taylor immensely talented—he's a possible first-round pick in next summer's draft—but he has a grinder mentality, as shown by the fact that he began the summer in the Cape Cod League, then traveled down to North Carolina to compete as part of USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team and then returned to the Cape to finish out the summer with Cotuit. For those uninitiated, that happens, but it's not typical. Many start on the Cape, play for the CNT and then go home.
"I think that probably is one piece that is easy to miss in the whole equation is just how much he enjoys playing, how much he went and played (over the summer) to honor his obligation to his Cape team and the teammates he played with. I thought that was a pretty unique commitment from him," Mercer said.
The stiffest competition for Taylor in the center field is likely redshirt sophomore Louisville transfer Korbyn Dickerson, who got just 22 plate appearances last season for the Cardinals as he was squeezed out in what was a crowded, veteran outfield.
He's a high-end defender, and that's what makes him such an intriguing candidate to play center, but in the exhibition game against his former team last month, he also showed what he can do with the bat by hitting for the cycle. By the time he reached home plate after the home run that clinched the cycle, Dickerson might as well have been floating on air.
"I gave him a heat check. He looked at me on a 3-0 count and I gave him the green light," Mercer said. "I was like 'hey man, you've got four hits, let's throw a heat check out there,' and he hit a homer on a 3-0 count. I said 'man, some days it's just your day.'"
Sophomore Andrew Wiggins, a physical specimen at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, is also a candidate to play center. He was a highly-regarded recruit in the 2023 class and he played well in a small sample last season, batting .309/.466/.546 in 73 plate appearances, so it stands to reason that he's itching for a chance at a full-time role in 2025. He and Dickerson are both possibilities in right field if Taylor does indeed end up earning the job in center.
Also in the mix in the outfield is sixth-year senior Xavier transfer Tyler DeMartino. He played just nine games in 2024 before going down for the season and he's currently somewhat limited as he works back from a wrist injury, but when he's been healthy and on the field in his career, he's been productive. In his four years with the Musketeers, he batted a combined .298/.384/.501, and he's a good runner on top of that. He spent a lot of time at DH at Xavier, but also has experience in both outfield corners.
A freshman who is making a real run to nudge his way into regular playing time in the outfield is Hogan Denny, a Mooresville, Indiana, native who is a catcher by trade. The consensus high school player of the year in Indiana last spring, Denny's bat really plays, so look for the coaching staff to find a way to shoehorn him into the lineup, whether that's in left field, third base, catcher or DH.
Speaking of catcher, Indiana returns fifth-year senior Jake Stadler, who shared time with Brock Tibbitts at the position for the first half of last season before starting the final 19 games of the year. With a .278/.416/.358 slash line and more walks (25) than strikeouts (20), he proved himself as a quality on-base guy, and Mercer is excited about the strides he's made defensively.
"Jake Stadler has improved leaps and bounds over the last two years," Mercer said. "Last year he made a big jump and then coming into this year he made a jump defensively (with) the way that he blocks, with the way that he's thrown, his arm strength, his quickness. He was excellent defensively, especially against Cincinnati."
Ideally the Hoosiers would have a timeshare at the position to avoid burning someone out, and along with Denny, look for sophomore TJ Schuyler to be in the mix for those reps after he started two games and got into 19 games overall last season. Brayden Ricketts, a talented freshman from Canada, could also fight his way into playing time.
The infield returns an experienced regular at every spot, even if maybe their experience last season wasn't at the position they are projected to play this season.
With Tibbitts gone, there are at-bats to be had at first base (where he started 30 games last year), and redshirt sophomore Joey Brenczewski is going to factor heavily in the discussion after he started 29 games there last year (along with 13 at DH), batting .333/.415/.451 along the way. He's also been working in the outfield corners this fall, so that could be a landing spot for him as a way to get his bat in the lineup as well.
The other primary candidate at first base is freshman Jake Hanley, a Cincinnati-area native who reminds the Indiana coaching staff of Tibbitts in that he's an athletic, rangy 6-foot-5 target at first base who can really pick it and who has good footwork around the bag.
Another freshman, Cooper Malamazian from the Chicagoland area, will be in the mix at third base. An unsigned 17th-round pick of the Brewers, Malamazian has shortstop range and athleticism, but the arm strength and frame for the hot corner. He also has a hitterish look in the batter's box with a simple, flat swing. He's gotten a lot of work this fall at third base due to an injury to senior Josh Pyne, and he has taken advantage of it by impressing the coaching staff early on.
If Pyne is healthy and ready to go in the spring, you have to figure the third base job is his, but Malamazian has really stepped in to show Indiana that it will have a good option there regardless.
Junior Tyler Cerny is back at shortstop after starting all 60 games there last season. Cerny performed in a big way in 2024, batting .315/.378/.525 with 24 doubles, 10 home runs and 60 RBIs. That performance, plus his physical build at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, earned him some draft interest as an eligible sophomore over the summer, but he made it through and the Hoosiers are thrilled to have him back. Veteran shortstops who have all-fields pop and a steady hand defensively definitely don't grow on trees.
Sophomore Jasen Oliver earned the full-time second base job about one-third of the way through the 2024 season and never let go, ultimately finishing with a .285/.362/.529 slash line and 10 home runs. He's someone Mercer pointed to as having improved defensively in the offseason, and in the exhibition against Louisville, he also barreled the ball up as consistently as anyone in the Hoosiers' lineup.
"He's very talented offensively," Mercer said. "He had a wrist injury and he missed the whole summer essentially, so he's getting back into it this fall. He's a very talented offensive player, he's very capable, and he's kind of picked up where he left off at the end of the spring."
For those keeping score at home, that's seven returning regulars for Indiana who started 42 or more games last season. Just looking at the production those seven put up in 2024, you know this lineup will hit, and if they're as improved defensively as Mercer believes they are, we're talking about an elite position player group.
More Questions to Answer on the Mound
There's not nearly the same level of certainty on the mound, as Indiana lost its two top starting pitchers in Connor Foley and Ty Bothwell, plus Luke Sinnard, who missed all of 2024 with injury, and Brayden Risedorph, who's tough 2024 season was not indicative of his arm talent and potential. Sinnard (3rd round), Foley (5th) and Risedorph (20th) were all drafted, while Bothwell graduated after his sixth-year senior season.
Mercer and his staff are bullish on a group of transfers who will help mitigate those losses.
Chief among them is fifth-year senior Gavin Seebold, a righthander who redshirted at Eastern Kentucky in 2021, redshirted at Southern Indiana in 2022 and had an 8.27 ERA in 37 innings in 2023 before developing into a workhorse at USI last season, with a 3.93 ERA in a team-leading 71 innings for the Screaming Eagles. A very good strike-thrower who walked just 18 a season ago, Seebold started the exhibition game against Louisville and threw two hitless innings, using a fastball from 90-93 mph. He also started Indiana's exhibition game against Cincinnati and threw two scoreless frames. Seebold has an extremely high floor as an experienced starting pitcher who has good command of a four-pitch mix.
Fifth-year senior righthander Cole Gilley, a transfer from Indiana State, has been similarly solid this fall and projects to bring a steady presence to Bloomington. He had a career 7.26 ERA in 39.2 innings with the Sycamores, but he throws three pitches for strikes—a low-90s fastball that was up to 94 mph last season, a low-to-mid-80s slider and a low-80s changeup. He came on in relief of Seebold in the Cincinnati exhibition and threw two scoreless innings.
"Those are two really mature guys that have pitched a ton of college innings, and have been really successful," Mercer said. "That transfer group has kind of led the charge there."
Sophomore Saint Louis transfer righthander Jackson Yarberry is someone Mercer sees as likely to play a big role in 2025 after going through some ups and downs with the Billikens as a freshman, to the tune of a 6.33 ERA in 42.2 innings. Mercer also compares Yarberry to Sinnard in a specific way.
"He's not Sinnard because he's not 6-foot-9, but (he has) a similar overtop pitch package, where the cutter hides the fastball and the fastball jumps a little bit and the curveball kind of offsets both of them from that overtop slot, so there's a lot to like with him in that regard," Mercer said.
Among returners, look for a bounce back from senior lefthander Ryan Kraft, who won pitcher of the year honors in the Northwoods League over the summer while putting up a 1.44 ERA with 81 strikeouts compared to 10 walks in 56.1 innings. He was a key relief arm for Indiana in 2023, but he took a step back in 2024 and finished the season with a 7.27 ERA. Perhaps he'll not only be more effective for the Hoosiers in 2025 in general, but after starting eight games over the summer, it could be in a bigger role.
He'll show a fastball in the high 80s, touching the low 90s—that pitch plays up at times due to some deception in his delivery—along with a slurvy breaking ball in the high 70s and a low-80s changeup. Because of his heavy summer workload, Kraft is shut down for the fall, but if he can come anywhere close to replicating his summer success next spring, he'll be a huge piece of the puzzle.
Junior Aydan Decker-Petty will also be leaned upon to do more next spring after he had a 6.32 ERA in 37 innings last season. The 6-foot-5 righthander has a big arm, with a fastball that sat 92-94 mph in the exhibition against Louisville and that was up to 97 last season, but he has to throw more strikes to be more effective. He struck out 38 batters last season, but also walked 27 and hit six others.
Junior righthander Will Eldridge has a similarly big arm. A 6-foot-4, 210-pound transfer from NAIA Indiana Wesleyan, he worked with a fastball at 94-96 mph against Louisville. Mercer and his staff anticipated fastball command as a concern for the righthander in fall camp, and while Eldridge did struggle in that regard against Louisville, that is the exception to the way he's pitched this fall. The key for him moving forward will be honing his breaking ball to better pair it with the heater.
Eldridge very clearly has the arm talent to be a good bullpen piece, and should it play out that way, he'll be among those supporting sixth-year senior righthander Drew Buhr, the elder statesman of that unit who was a workhorse a season ago. In 49 innings, all in relief, he had a 3.31 ERA, a .228 opponent batting average and 48 strikeouts compared to 17 walks. He leads with a low-90s fastball that was up to 96 mph last season, but will also show a mid-to-high-80s cutter. He's spent time this offseason working on improving his changeup to give him a more varied repertoire.
Redshirt junior righthander Pete Haas, a transfer from Stonehill, has an intriguing pitch mix. Mercer was quick to make sure he wasn't saying Haas was going to be the next Craig Yoho, who recently won Brewers minor league pitcher of the year honors, but he did say that Haas' stuff reminds him of Yoho. Haas was mostly a starter at Stonehill (a small school in Massachusetts that moved up to Division I in the fall of 2022), but that kind of standout swing-and-miss secondary pitch will obviously also make him an intriguing bullpen option for the coaching staff.
"(He's) kind of in that (Yoho) mold where it's 88 to 90 with a little bit of lift on the fastball, but he's got a great changeup, and he throws it in any count. He can throw it for a strike, can throw it for chase. It's kind of like that UFO changeup, and he throws a nice little slider," Mercer said. "He's like that mid-inning fireman. You know, your starter gets you into the fifth, and there's a runner on first and second and one out, and you've got three righties coming up, and it's like 'get the ball to Haas, he's going to throw 70% changeups and we're going to get a double play ball and get out of here.'"
Seth Benes—yes, he's part of the Benes baseball family that produced two big leaguers in Andy and Alan, and Seth's father Adam spent five years in the minor leagues—got into just five games as a freshman last season, but he's shown this fall that he's ready for more, including in the Cincinnati exhibition when he went five up and five down with two strikeouts. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound righthander has a three-pitch mix made up of a low-90s fastball, a low-to-mid-80s changeup and a mid-70s curveball.
Technically, fifth-year senior righthander Ben Grable is a returner, but he missed all of the 2024 season with injury after transferring from Northwestern. When he was last on the mound in the Big Ten, he showed a fastball that averaged just under 94 mph, touching as high as 100, with a low-to-mid-80s slider. That's obviously big-time arm talent, but there's also uncertainty there, given that he's been on the shelf for more than a year and that consistent success largely eluded him at Northwestern, in part due to also missing all of the 2022 season.
Finally, Mercer is excited about the group of freshman pitchers who just arrived in Bloomington, led by lefthander Brayton Thomas and righthander Henry Brummel.
Thomas is a Fort Wayne native who ranked as the number one overall player in the state of Indiana 2024 high school class according to Prep Baseball. In his outing against Louisville, his fastball sat in the low 90s, but that pitch was up to 95 mph in his high school days, and the extension he gets in his delivery makes it appear even firmer. He'll also show two distinct breaking balls, a slider in the high 70s and low 80s and a curveball in the mid 70s, and a mid-80s changeup. He got hit around a bit by Louisville, but was much cleaner and effective against Cincinnati.
Brummel, an unsigned 20th-round pick of the Brewers, is a Chicagoland native who sat 93-94 mph with his fastball against Louisville. He, too, shows a starter's repertoire like Thomas with two different breaking balls and a changeup also in the mix. He looked like a grizzled veteran against the Cardinals, throwing as efficient an inning as anyone on the Indiana staff that day.
Indiana has a lot to sort out on the mound between now and February, but Mercer likes what he has to work with.
"I feel like we have higher-floor stuff across the board," Mercer said. "There's more guys that are in that low-90s range with at least two to three pitches and are strike-throwers. We've always had high-ceiling guys who throw hard and are on the pro scale, but I feel like this year we have more guys that you feel confident about being able to go and keep you competitive from game-management standpoint on all four of your games during the week."