When right-handed pitcher Kaden Jacobi entered the transfer portal this summer, he wasn’t sure what to expect. The O’Fallon, Missouri, native knew he had one year of eligibility left, but the path forward wasn’t clear until Indiana pitching coach Dustin Glant and the Hoosiers’ staff came calling.
“From the moment Coach Glant and them started talking to me, I immediately felt like [Indiana] was the right fit for me,” Jacobi told TheHoosier.com.
At 6-foot-3, Jacobi brings size, experience and a versatile role to Indiana’s pitching staff. He appeared in 17 games at Missouri last spring, including five starts, logging 46.2 innings while often being stretched across multiple frames in relief. But it wasn’t just playing time that swayed him to Bloomington — it was a plan.
Glant laid out a blueprint that mirrored the development track of Cole Gilley, a fellow transfer who transformed into a second team All-Big Ten pitcher last season and parlayed his breakout year into a 10th-round MLB Draft selection by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“He’s like, ‘You’re next,’” Jacobi recalled. “That caught my attention. I was like that actually could be me.”
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The culture mattered just as much as the developmental pitch.
“That was a big thing I was looking for — going to a place that’s going to compete and win games,” Jacobi said. “That’s the most important thing at the end of the day.”
It didn’t take long for Indiana to bring him on campus. From the first steps he took in Bloomington, Jacobi was struck by the size and beauty of the school.
“I loved it. Campus was beautiful,” Jacobi said. “From the moment I saw the campus, I was starting think, ‘OK this is where I want to be.’”
The coaching staff sealed the deal. Meeting head coach Jeff Mercer and the rest of the Hoosiers reinforced what Indiana had been telling him.
“They’re really genuine people, and it really seemed like they cared about the players and everyone else on staff,” Jacobi said. “They were awesome, I really enjoyed meeting them.”
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Even before his visit, Jacobi had a trusted source vouching for the program. Former Indiana pitcher Seth Benes — a fellow Liberty High School product from O’Fallon — gave him a nudge toward Bloomington.
“I reached out to him to ask ‘What was your experience at Indiana,’ and he had all good things to say,” Jacobi said. “That was definitely good to hear.”
Indiana envisions Jacobi as an arm who can provide innings — perhaps “potentially a lot of innings,” according to Jacobi.
The staff also encouraged him to refine his pitch mix, particularly by adding a changeup and increasing the velocity on his cutter. Whether that work positions him as a starter or a long reliever, Jacobi’s focus is simple. He just wants to do whatever it takes to help the team win.
That mentality dates back to his first stop at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Missouri. His junior college days demanded perseverance, teaching him lessons he still leans on.
“The most important lesson I learned was just putting your head down and working and trusting the coaching staff,” Jacobi said. “It really teaches you how to stay determined and focused and to just keep working no matter what obstacles are in the way.”
Now, as an older arm, Jacobi plans to pass along those lessons to Indiana’s younger pitchers.
“I know when I was one of the younger players, I would always look up to the older guys and ask them for advice,” Jacobi said. “I just want to be someone the younger guys can look up to.”
For Jacobi, the decision to leave Missouri wasn’t easy. Growing up less than two hours from Columbia, pitching for the Tigers was something he had long imagined.
“It was really hard. Mizzou had always been a dream school,” Jacobi said. “But at the end of the day, I’m going into my last year and I had to go somewhere that has a background of winning games and developing players.”
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That background — and the chance to follow a proven developmental path — led him to Indiana. Jacobi won’t just measure his final season by innings pitched or strikeouts logged. The bigger picture drives him.
“The ultimate goal, obviously, is Omaha,” Jacobi said. “That’s the main goal.”
For Indiana, a pitcher who has grown through JUCO battles, lived his childhood dream at Missouri and now brings his experience to Bloomington could be the type of veteran presence that steadies a staff chasing a deep postseason run.
And if the blueprint holds true, Jacobi might just be the next transfer arm to turn potential into a career year in cream and crimson.
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