Craig Dedelow was IU’s best hitter during the 2016 season.
The senior outfielder led the Hoosiers in seven statistical batting categories, finished second on the team in three more categories, and played and started all 56 games.
In those 56 games, Dedelow recorded at least one hit in 42 of them and was the only Hoosier batter to finish the season with a batting average better than .300.
The Munster, Indiana, native was consistent in the second spot of the IU lineup during a season when pitching was the strength of the team.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took notice.
Dedelow was drafted in the 34th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Pirates, but the then-junior did not sign a professional contract. He stayed in Bloomington.
“It was mostly, ‘Am I ready to start my professional career?’” Dedelow said. “Some parts of me felt like I was.”
The outfielder had come a long way since his freshman season in 2014, when he played just 36 games with a .232 batting average and a 16-12 hit-strikeout ratio.
In the last two seasons, Dedelow became a household name for the casual IU baseball fan. He and the other IU sluggers represent the post-2013 College World Series era — an era of a team with batters drawn to Bloomington for the reputation left behind by Chicago Cubs star and former Hoosier Kyle Schwarber.
Dedelow was one of those batters, and being drafted by the Pirates proved his value to the Hoosiers and showed the potential he had to increase that value after another season in Bloomington. The senior said he recognized that and decided he needed more preparation for the pros.
“Being in the weight room and being a lot more physical is a big thing for me,” Dedelow said. “Not playing summer ball this summer and staying in Bloomington and being able to workout with our strength coach and actually have a program day-by-day — that was a big part for me.”
Statistically, it’s not difficult to recognize why Dedelow would want to improve before signing a professional contract. After recording career highs in batting average at .325, hits with 76, runs with 40, home runs with 7 and slugging percentage at .496 in 2015, he fell just shy of all those marks in 2016.
That doesn’t mean he had a down season. It means he didn’t improve statistically the way many collegiate athletes like to before going pro.
“Overall, I didn’t feel like my whole self was there ready to make the decision, and if I wasn’t 100 percent bought into it, then it just wasn’t the right time,” Dedelow said.
Junior outfielder Logan Sowers — who led the team in home runs with 8 and slugging percentage at .466 in 2016 — said he heard Dedelow actually had signed with the Pirates before the real news broke after the draft.
“When I heard that I was like, ‘Good for him, but that kind of hurts us,’” Sowers, laughing, said. “Then the other news came out that he actually didn’t sign, and I was extremely happy.”
Sowers also noted Dedelow’s abilities in the field in addition to his batting. Dedelow has committed just 11 errors in three seasons, but for Sowers and most IU baseball fans and coaches, Dedelow makes the biggest difference at the plate.
“The guy’s hit over .300 the last two years,” Sowers said. “Just a solid guy in the middle of the lineup. It just helps us a ton.”
