Devin Taylor focused on 'stacking days' as he chases dreams with Lansing Lugnuts
· Yahoo Sports
LANSING — Devin Taylor is in the infant stages of his journey in professional baseball.
But as the Lansing Lugnuts outfielder chases his dreams of one day reaching the majors with the Athletics, he's focused on the process.
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For Taylor, that means stacking days.
That process began for Taylor during his strong college career at Indiana that saw him hit 54 home runs and break the career homer record at a program Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber starred for.
"I would hit every day with my hitting coach Zach Weatherford and he would take me in the outfield," Taylor said. "That's where the stacking days really started to begin right there. It was taking it one day at a time just to get drafted my junior year. That was the goal."
The success at Indiana started with Taylor being named the Big Ten freshman of the year in 2023. All-American recognition followed in 2024 and 2025 as Taylor reached his goal when he was selected by the Athletics in the second round of the Major League Baseball draft with the No. 48 overall pick.
Taylor, a Cincinnati native, got a five-week taste of pro baseball when the Athletics sent him to play for Low-A affiliate Stockton after he signed. That opportunity gave Taylor a glimpse of how to handle the grind of a season. And hitting five doubles, six homers and driving in 18 runs during his 28 game stint with the Stockton Ports led to Taylor earning this year's opportunity in High-A playing for the Lugnuts.
"It's a very long process as a whole and this is just step one of it," Taylor said of opening the season in Lansing. "I'm just taking it every day at a time and just stacking days."
The 22-year-old Taylor arrives in Lansing as the most highly touted prospect on the Lugnuts' season-opening roster. MLB Pipeline ranks Taylor as the No. 8 prospect and Baseball America rates him No. 9 in the Athletics' minor league system.
Taylor went 1-for-3 with two walks in his debut for the Lugnuts in their season-opening 8-7 loss to the Dayton Dragons on Thursday, April 2.
First-year Lugnuts manager Javier Godard has worked with players who are now in the majors with the Athletics like Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler. Godard believes Taylor has a promising future and got a glimpse of his talent while managing the Stockton Ports last season.
"To me his hitting is very special," Godard said. "I think he's going to be a guy that's going to get hit when it's all said and done. I was very impressed with him last year and I'm looking forward for him to have a great year.
"... He came to me (at Stockton) right after he got drafted and I was impressed with the skills that he has and what he showed on the field and I think hitting-wise he's going to be really, really good."
Contact Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Devin Taylor working to keep stacking days with Lansing Lugnuts