Taber Stokes brings speed, contact, and up-the-middle juice to Ball State
In the 2026 season, Taber Stokes emerged as a high-upside middle-infield fit for Ball State, pairing a .306 average with 40 steals in 54 starts and adding gap power with seven doubles and two triples. What jumps off the page is the athletic value: he impacts the game on the bases, handles shortstop cleanly, and has already shown he can produce in multiple JUCO stops before arriving in Muncie. If a team wants an energetic, disruptive SS who can create runs without needing the fence to do it, Stokes is absolutely worth caring about.
