Kyle Blair, RHP, UC San Diego
Big guy, big arm, finding consistency.

Seth Blair, RHP, Arizona State
Leake has left; Blair is in the building.

Jake Buchanan, RHP, NC State
Used Cape to make people wonder why he wasn’t on Team USA.

Brian Dupra, RHP, Notre Dame
Classic college closer, hard-throwing, RHP, 90-93.

Matt Evers, LHP, Rice
Forgettable 2008 college season, good summer, 88-92 FB, SL, CH, bullpen help at the worst, starter at best.

Kevin Gelinas, LHP, UC Santa Barbara
89-92 LHP with big body, some power to CB, much projection.

Matt Grace, LHP, UCLA
Buried as a Bruin, he’s going to get a better shot as a pro; FB 89-91, shown gradual improvement.

AJ Griffin, RHP, San Diego
Big 6-5 durable body developing 90-93 FB command with put-away SL, had great summer.

Jesse Hahn, RHP, Vanderbilt
DNS on Cape, but he raised his stock.

Matt Harvey, RHP, North Carolina
Another year, another first rounder from this rotation, another rush to the big leagues.

Taylor Hill, RHP, Vanderbilt
DNS on Cape but was talk of Chatham.

Sean Hoelscher, RHP, Texas Christian
Showed a lot to like on Cape; durable frame, good arm action/speed, aptitude, depth of stuff. While you’re lusting for UT pitchers, don’t forget this guy.

Mario Hollands, LHP, UC Santa Barbara
Sinker-slider slinger type got results with stuff in summer.

John Lambert, LHP, NC State
Once, twice, three times a draft-eee; hoping this is the year he puts consistency to 6-5, 220 frame and 89-92 FB.

Tyler Lyons, LHP, Oklahoma State
Out to prove Yankees goofed; CH and plus 89-91 FB command are his weapons. 

Aaron Meade, LHP, Missouri State
Pitched well on Cape; liked arm; would have liked sharper breaking ball.

Mike Nesseth, RHP, Nebraska
Passed up Angels, set to close again for Huskers, needs consistency with power stuff.

Addison Reed, RHP, San Diego State
Top-shelf college closer will be close to big leagues when he comes out of college.

Rob Rasmussen, LHP, UCLA
Don’t judge this LHP by his size: FB 90-93, put-away CB, CH to keep RHH honest.

Ben Rowen, RHP, Virginia Tech
Small school SoCal HS guy turned into 6-4 closer will find his way into the draft.

Seth Rosin, RHP, Minnesota
Big body, durable arm, has makings of everyday ML RHP if it all comes together.

Chris Sale, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast
Not a household name. Come June, he will be.

Jake Thompson, RHP, Long Beach State
Power arm who will benefit from Troy Buckley’s return and basically a summer off wilting in Chatham.

(photo: Nebraska)

Mike Nesseth waited to flip the coin. Drafted in the 15th round by the Los Angeles Angels from the University of Nebraska, Nesseth bided his time this summer in the Cape Cod League. While he waited to see what the Angels had for him, he also waited to see which drafted players were going to get to the Huskers.  Fitting that it would come down to the wire for Nesseth, a hard-throwing right-hander with a big pitcher’s frame and a closer’s mentality.

Nesseth slipped to the 15th round partly because he performed a swing role for a 25-28-1 Nebraska team that lacked pitching depth and required Nesseth to enter the rotation. Nebraska finished in last place in the Big 12 in 2009, a forgettable season for a proud program, and crossed its fingers over the summer as a total of five current players and recruits were drafted.

Nesseth pitched sparingly out of the bullpen in the Cape Cod League. He worked 23 innings and allowed 26 hits, walked 14 and struck out 17. His ERA was 6.26. He had a few choices: forget about his last college season and his last amateur summer while working things out in Instructional League, or see what talent Nebraska had coming back and if he could return to a full-time closer role.

Nebraska got all five of its drafted returers and recruits and will head into fall ball well stocked. The recruit that got to the Huskers, Phoenix 6-7 right-hander Tom Lemke, turned down the Rangers in the 10th round and will find himself as a weekend starter in all probabability. Lemke’s arrival should allow Nesseth to settle back into the back end of the bullpen and be a top-shelf college closer if he regain the consistency he compiled in 2008.

“It’s a huge moment for the program and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Nesseth told the Grand Island Independent.

Nesseth took one for the team in 2009. He believes that starting took a toll on his velocity and removed him from his strength. A 91 fastball isn’t the same as a 95 fastball. Nesseth has a very clear idea of what kind of big league pitcher he wants to be. He wants to throw gas in the ninth inning. Period.

It’s easy to see why the Angels went for Nesseth and tried to steal him for below his potential 2010 draft market value. Nesseth profiles for the organization’s long-standing preference for taller, durable right-handers who can withstand the rigors of a long major league season. It’s a characteristic that Branch Rickey deeply believed in, dating back to his years with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1930s. The belief system remained within the Dodgers organization long after Rickey was gone. Mike Scioscia inherited this quality as a young player with the Dodgers and has since firmly established it as an organizational mandate in Anaheim. You won’t see the Angels push for pitchers who they don’t think can absorb innings and maintain stuff.

A former three-sport standout at Windom High School in Minnesota, Nesseth was one of the top prospects from his home state in 2006. After he redshirted in 2007 and pitched in the Northwoods League that summer, Nesseth made a contribution to Nebraska in 2008 when he went 4-1 with four saves and a 3.58 ERA in 27 games.

When the Huskers struggled in 2009, Nesseth shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen, making eight starts and pitching 64 2/3 innings, in which he struck out 73, walked 35 and allowed 62 hits. His ERA increased to 5.01 and he finished 5-4.

Baseball Beginnings caught up to him on the Cape as he looked back and looked ahead.

Baseball Beginnings: Describe your college career thus far.
Nesseth: I redshirted my freshman year, closed my redshirt freshman year and now I relieved midway through the season. I started the last four weeks. I started eight games and I closed the rest of them, but we didn’t have many closing opportunities.

Baseball Beginnings: What do you see yourself becoming in pro ball?
Nesseth: I want to be a late-inning guy – set-up or closing.

Baseball Beginnings: Why do you want to be a reliever? I ask because some guys want no part of the bullpen.
Nesseth: I like the aggressiveness it takes to get after it and throw really hard in a big situation. That’s what I like. It’s that feel. I like the mentality that goes along with it.

Baseball Beginnings: Were you drafted out of high school?
Nesseth: No. I got drafted in the 15^th round this June by the Angels. I probably would have been drafted in the middle or later rounds out of high school, but I told everyone I was going to school. I probably wasn’t going to get enough, so it was worth going to school. I was a football, basketball and baseball player in high school. I could have gone to college to play basketball, but my baseball career was a better option for me in the long run. I was just an athlete, I guess is what you would say. If you’re athletic and coach-able in high school, you can do just about anything.

Baseball Beginnings: The Angels like tall right-handers and they like power arms. So that’s you?
Nesseth: Definitely, that’s me.

Baseball Beginnings: Given any thought to signing?
Nesseth: Yeah. I mean, I’m only a sophomore so I have another year. I have two years left of eligibility. I wanted to have a good summer. I want to sign, I planned on signing, that’s my goal.  

Baseball Beginnings: How old are you?
Nesseth: 21.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you worry that maybe now might be the time to go?
Nesseth: Not necessarily. Hopefully if everything works out the way I want it to, I’d love to get out and sign.

(photo: Nebraska)

Baseball Beginnings: Do you feel like you’ve gotten better in college?
Nesseth: Definitely. I think I’m more mature and I think I have a better arm. Stuff wise, it’s still slider and fastball. For the most part, it’s been the same velocity, maybe down a little bit because I’ve been starting more. As a freshman, I was lighting up the radar gun more because I was just coming out of the bullpen. My arm was built for the relieving role.

Baseball Beginnings: What kind of expectations do you have for yourself once you get into pro ball? Do you see yourself as a fast track guy?
Nesseth: Yes. If I’m a late-inning guy, hopefully I’ll fast track within a year or two at the most. However long it takes, it takes, but I have a lot of confidence to say it won’t take that long. I hope not. I do have a lot to learn, but I’m a hard worker, I know what it takes, and I feel like my work ethic will be above a lot of the other guys.

Baseball Beginnings: What do you feel you need to improve to get from here to there as quickly as possible?
Nesseth: As a late inning guy, I really don’t need to develop too much of a third pitch. If I’m just a fastball-slider guy, I guess location is it. I can pretty much throw any pitch in any count, but I think I need to work hard to have the strength to have the longevity.