Five storylines to watch for Indiana baseball going into the 2024 season

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer’s 5-year old son is nervous about the Hoosiers trip to Myrtle Beach this weekend.

The team opens the season with games against a trio of opponents (Duke, Coastal Carolina and George Mason) that made the NCAA tournament in 2023 as part of the Baseball at the Beach event.

Duke and Coastal Carolina made the preseason top 25 in all the major polls.

"We were making conversation and I said, what do you think of our chances? Do you think we are going to win?" Mercer said. "I don't know Dad, you aren't ranked. The other teams are ranked and better than you."

More: IU's Devin Taylor a program changer. 'It’s like God made him to be a professional hitter.'

It’s that kind of challenge that’s fueled Indiana’s recent success.

The Hoosiers made the NCAA Regional finals last year with a 43-20 record — the program’s most wins since 2013 — after posting the highest RPI in the Big Ten.

“We want to be the best team we can be in the last month, and to do that you have to challenge yourself,” Mercer said. “You have to be confident enough to go fight it out.”

Mercer loaded up the schedule again this year with quality opponents from teams that made the Super Regionals (Alabama and Indiana State) to ones that won their conference tournament (Vanderbilt and Ball State).

"We'll learn a lot about ourselves, but that's why we come here,” Indiana starting center fielder Carter Mathison said. “We want to face the best of the best."

Here are more storylines to watch:

Indiana baseball has the most exciting young talent in the Big Ten

Devin Taylor was one of the most impactful freshmen in the country last season. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and became only the third IU player ever to win first team All-Big Ten honors as a freshman (Larry Blackwell and Joey DeNato).

He had a slash line of .315/.430/.650, set a new single-season freshman RBI record (59) and had the second most home runs (16) for a freshman in program history.

Taylor carried his hot hitting over to the New England Collegiate Baseball League where he earned the league’s rookie of the year honors with a .314 batting average, eight home runs and 30 RBIs.

The left-handed outfielder has been on just about every preseason best of list in recent weeks and was the unanimous pick (Perfect Game, D1 Baseball and Baseball America) for preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. He was also one of 55 players named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list.

No one in IU’s clubhouse is worried about Taylor having a sophomore slump considering he’s been dealing with outsized expectations since he was the Cincinnati Player of the Year as a freshman at LaSalle High School.

Indiana baseball’s batting order is loaded with talent

Indiana’s No. 1 hitter Phillip Glasser graduated and No. 2 hitter Bobby Whalen entered the transfer portal, but Mercer’s team still heads into 2024 with one of the most imposing lineups in the conference.

While Taylor contributes to that aura, he’s not the only reason why opposing pitchers are going to struggle getting through the Hoosiers unscathed.

The standard bearers for IU are a trio of three-year starters — Carter Mathison, Brock Tibbitts and Josh Pyne — who have started a combined 356 games out of 366 the last two years.

It was Mathison who set the program’s freshman home run record (19) in 2022. His power numbers were down last season, but he improved his batting average by nearly 40 points (.273 to .311) and had a .426 on-base percentage.

Tibbitts tied for the team lead with a .357 batting average last season (tied for sixth in the Big Ten) and led the team with 68 RBIs. He’s reached base safely in 105 of the 120 games he’s started.

Indiana has sophomore Tyler Cerny stepping in to replace Glasser at shortstop and signed highly sought after transfer Nick Mitchell (Western Illinois) to join Mathison and Taylor in the outfield. Cerny hit .276 with 10 home runs as a true freshman and Mitchell has a career .348 batting average.

More: Five storylines to watch for Indiana softball going into the 2024 season

Change up: Luke Sinnard’s injury shifts Indiana baseball’s focus on the mound

Luke Sinnard emerged as Indiana’s most dependable starter last season.

The Western Kentucky transfer had a 6-3 record with a 4.27 ERA, .249 batting average against and 114 strikeouts in 16 starts (86.1 innings). The right-hander’s strikeout total was a new single-season program record for the Hoosiers.

He would have anchored IU’s staff this spring, but the elbow injury he suffered last season in the first round of the NCAA tournament ended up requiring offseason surgery and he’s expected to miss the entire 2024 season.

Sinnard’s injury and the departure of reliever Craig Yoho — he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers after entering the transfer portal and committing to Arkansas — will open up opportunities for IU’s talented young arms.

Sophomore Brayden Risedorph will get the start in the season-opener on Friday against Duke. The right-hander led the team with 25 appearances (five starts) and six saves last season.

Fellow sophomore Connor Foley and junior Ryan Kraft will have prominent roles as well. Kraft earned first team All-Big Ten honors last season finishing second on the team with 61.2 innings pitched despite only making two starts. The left-hander was 6-1 with a 2.48 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

The whole staff will need to be ready for anything as Mercer goes without a traditional rotation for the second straight year.

"You just got to deal with it by being ready whenever you can, you might throw in the ninth inning of one game then start the game after that,” Risedorph said. “You never know. Just always being ready waiting for your name to get called, and just going out there and giving your best stuff."

Indiana baseball relying on proven blueprint for highly touted freshman Andrew Wiggins

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Andrew Wiggins.

The Heritage Christian standout hit .446 during his prep career with 17 home runs, 64 RBIs and 60 walks in three seasons. He was a three-time All-State selection and named a prep All-American by multiple organizations.

Baseball America and D1 Baseball named the 6-foot-4 outfielder their Big Ten Preseason Freshman of the Year, but Mercer’s message during the preseason is the same one he gave to Taylor when he garnered similar attention last year.

“Andrew will fall in line with the same blueprint the rest of those guys have followed,” Mercer said. “We have a really talented player on a talented team, he'll be given opportunities when it's conducive for success."

Taylor played sparingly through the team’s first 15 games last year before landing an everyday spot in the lineup.

"He'll start with pinch hits and DH opportunities and good matchups, maybe he comes in and pitch hits and ends up in the outfield for a defensive replacement,” Mercer said, of Wiggins. “If you want to have a bigger role, you have to do the job you are doing.”

The good news for Wiggins is that he’s far enough along defensively that Mercer is confident he’ll be able to handle time in the field.

"He's gotten a lot better defensively,” Mercer said. “He's a really good thrower, he's got a great arm. His relay throws have improved a ton…I think getting outside has been a big help for that. We've been able to scrimmage a ton and do cuts and relays, you are able to see the game in all its color and reality. His ability to go get the ball in the gaps, he's long and athletic."

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana baseball reloads for 2024 coming off 40-plus win season