The 2023 Times Baseball Player of the Year: Marquette’s Taylor Waldron

A substantial level of comfort is essential for any athlete in pursuit of his or her top performance, and that is what made Taylor Waldron’s senior season at Marquette Academy so amazing.

Waldron was outstanding his junior season, so much so he was the 2022 Times Baseball Player of the Year with an 11-2 record, 99 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 55 innings pitched.

However, he admits to pitching the last third of that season in considerable pain and ended up having surgery for a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm, a procedure performed in July 2022. The injury threw him off his normal offseason regimen, leading to what was for him a slow start and a lack of overall comfort for much of the 2023 season.

Still, Waldron was able to put up outstanding numbers until his return to form later in the year that not only helped the Crusaders to yet another standout season, but to a repeat of the Times’ highest honor.

“Having a brace around it for quite a while, I couldn’t do much,” said Waldron of his offseason. “When I did get back, I didn’t have much time to prepare for the season. I couldn’t throw as much, and I had to build myself back up to where I was, and that took a long time.

“Halfway through this season, I still wasn’t 100%. It wasn’t until about the last three starts that I felt like my old self.”

Thanks in part to Marquette’s deep pitching staff – with fellow starters Aiden Thompson, Logan Nelson and Carson Zellers – and a powerful everyday lineup, Waldron was able to relax and do the things he needed to do to get back to full strength.

The senior managed a 6-1 mark with one save, a 1.58 ERA, 81 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 44 1/3 innings. He also returned to the batting order later in the season and hit a solid .459 (17 for 37) with seven runs scored and seven RBIs.

“He’s been awesome to coach. He’s a great kid, and his work ethic is off the charts.”

—  Marquette baseball coach Todd Hopkins, on Taylor Waldron

“Pitching, Taylor is one of those special kids we’ve been fortunate to have,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “He and Aiden [Thompson], when they got the ball, you knew you had a great chance at winning, and he’s been like that for three years, just awesome. He’s been awesome to coach. He’s a great kid, and his work ethic is off the charts.

“He had the big fastball, and [early] he wasn’t going to be throwing it the way he did last year, but he was able to hit spots. His breaking ball was a lot sharper, his changeup was great and he had confidence in all three pitches. No matter what the count was, he could get the ball over.

“Taylor was a pitcher last year, too, but his maturity level this year was outstanding. You knew he’d keep you in the ballgame. Like in that sectional game, it might still be going on if not for a fluke play.”

That play – a rare catcher’s interference call with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning against Hope Academy at the Elgin Harvest Christian Sectional – ruined a terrific relief performance, one in which he allowed only two hits and struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, but was tagged with the loss.

That effort came as no surprise after some of the sterling moments he posted through the season.

• Going pitch-for-pitch with University of Louisville signee TJ Schlageter of Joliet Catholic – the Joliet Herald-News Baseball Player of the Year – in a 2-1 win over the Hilltoppers.

• His 13-strikeout two-hitter with an RBI single in the 4-0 win over St. Bede in MA’s own regional championship game.

• A six-inning, 11-strikeout showing in a 3-0 win over Tri-County Conference rival Putnam County.

“Right now, I think I’m better at getting batters out,” Waldron said. “My location is just as good or better than last year, and that’s what got me through those games when I wasn’t 100%, hitting spots. I wasn’t throwing a slider, but my changeup was better, and I threw it a lot more.

“It’s fair to say that I was more of a pitcher this year than a thrower. My mindset got a little different. I figured batters out and know how to pitch to them rather than trying to throw the ball by them.”

Waldron will next put his skills on the line for John A. Logan Community College in downstate Carterville, then hopefully transfer to a four-year school or perhaps follow in the footsteps of his father, former Montreal Expos draftee and current Marquette pitching coach Brad Waldron, and enter pro ball.

“I not only learned so much about pitching from my dad,” Taylor Waldron said, “I learned to be a good teammate and support teammates when they’re down, like they support me. I enjoyed playing with all my teammates. They made me better.

“I wouldn’t really change anything about my time at Marquette. The outcomes, good or bad, make a person better. You learn and grow from each experience. Those make you who you are.”