Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Devin Taylor (junior) has already put together one of the most impressive careers in Indiana program history. In his freshman year alone, he was selected as a Freshman All American, won the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year, and earned a First-Team All Big Ten selection as a freshman. For his sophomore season, he improved even more, earning ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-American honors, Perfect Game Second Team All-American honors, and led the Big Ten in home runs and runs scored. By all accounts, Devin Taylor had become the best player in the big ten.

Now in his junior season, Taylor continues to improve and is having yet another career year with new career highs across the board. Taylor’s batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, plate discipline metrics, and wRC+ are all up versus previous years.

Building upon his success, Taylor can now add a new achievement to his impressive resume - Indiana’s all time homerun leader. On Saturday against the Maryland Terrapins Taylor hit a rocket to center field which became homerun number 48 of his career. This overtook a three way tie between the former record holders, Alex Dickerson (2009-11), Mike Smith (1989-92), and Mike Sabo (1985-88), who all hit 47 home runs throughout their IU careers.

With the IU Baseball season at about its halfway point, the Hoosiers are looking to build on the momentum that a milestone accomplishment like this brings. Currently at a record of 21-17, Indiana has sights on making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Taylor, of course, will be at the center of it all. After this season, he projects to be a first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, which would be Indiana Baseball’s first alumni picked in the first round since Kyle Schwarber was picked 4th overall in 2014.

Credits:

-iuhoosiers.com for Taylor’s accolade information and Indiana record holder information.

-fangraphs.com for Taylor’s year over year statistics.