Will Bolt grinned recalling the week it was for Nebraska baseball in the MLB draft. The program has a few new success stories to tell.
Middle infielders Brice Matthews and Max Anderson. Starting pitchers Emmett Olson and Jace Kaminska. All were chosen in the first 10 rounds to make up the Huskers’ best high-end draft output in 15 years. All were undrafted prep prospects whose pro careers launched in Lincoln.
“The experiences these guys get to have, it gives me a lot of pride as a coach to be able to see those guys be able to fulfill their dreams getting their names called in the draft,” Bolt said Wednesday. “And there’s going to be some millionaires in the group as well.”
Yet the draft also underscored a harsh reality for Nebraska and reminded why June included two staff changes at Haymarket Park. Big Red – with its expressed aims of hosting an NCAA regional and reaching the College World Series for the first time since 2005 – needs more big-time players.
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LSU led all Division I programs with 13 draftees two weeks after winning the CWS. Wake Forest (10), Stanford (nine) and Tennessee (eight) were close behind after ending their seasons in Omaha. Big Ten champion Maryland netted seven.
“That’s where we want to get,” Bolt said. “You need that top-end talent but you also need maybe your six-hole hitter to be a draft pick as well.”
It’s a lofty goal in the sense that Nebraska has only twice produced as many as seven draft choices in the top 20 rounds (2006 and 1983). But in the wake of the pandemic in 2020 that spurred more players to stay in college and MLB to halve its draft – not to mention the explosion of the transfer portal that creates annual free agency in the sport – difference makers are as available as ever.
Such is the reason Bolt flipped half his staff he said Wednesday in his first public comments since the shakeup. NU after the season parted ways with pitching coach Jeff Christy and volunteer coach Danny Marcuzzo, men whom Bolt said he not only respected but had “love and admiration” for as well. It moved renowned pitcher developer Rob Childress from a support role to pitching coach and hired former Wichita State recruiting coordinator Mike Sirianni as the new third full-time assistant as now allowed by the NCAA.
Both, Bolt said, have a “pretty significant” track record of finding and developing talent.
“It’s player acquisition nowadays – that’s what it boils down to,” Bolt said. “Can we get to the point where we have 8-10 guys drafted in a year? Because that’s what the big boys are doing. College baseball is far more talented than it was four years ago. Than it was three years ago. Than it was two years ago. It’s our job to keep up with that.”
Accumulating pitching depth in particular is an ongoing priority, Bolt said. Midweek games are the ultimate litmus test of that depth and were the area that most undercut the Huskers’ postseason chances last spring. Six weekday losses to Creighton (twice), Omaha (twice), North Dakota State and South Dakota State saw NU pitching allow a combined 42 runs.
Beyond Olson and Kaminska — now pros — Nebraska cycled through multiple Sunday starters. On midweeks, Bolt said, naming a starter often felt like drawing names out of a hat. Nebraska needs weekend-rotation heir apparents on Tuesdays it can pencil in for five or six quality innings.
“Older hitters, develop the pitching,” Bolt said. “That’s the point that we need to make sure we’re at with our program.”
Other notes from Bolt’s wide-ranging offseason talk Wednesday:
Summer studs: Nebraska players are scattered around the country for summer ball with a chance to make early impressions ahead of fall workouts. Many are taking advantage of their opportunities.
None has been more obvious than right-hander Brett Sears. The 23-year-old has allowed just two runs in 29 innings (0.62 ERA) in the Northwoods League with 32 strikeouts and three walks allowed as a starter. Sears made 11 relief appearances with Nebraska in the spring to the tune of a 5.29 ERA.
Bolt said Lincoln Southeast grad and incoming infielder Max Buettenback “has opened some eyes with what he’s doing” in the Sunflower Collegiate League. The rising freshman is hitting .352 with 12 RBIs and — most notably — 15 walks to 10 strikeouts through 18 games.
Two-way player Case Sanderson is another freshman to watch, Bolt said. The Missouri native is hitting .337 in with a 17-to-19 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 27 games.
Perry returns: Nebraska pitcher Kyle Perry will be back for a sixth season, which is more than okay with Bolt.
The 23-year-old out of Millard South simply hasn’t played a lot of baseball – just 93 1/3 career innings after two major arm injuries that erased most of his 2021 and 2022 seasons. Perry has basically pitched two full seasons including this spring when he emerged late as a high-leverage option.
NU is replacing more than two-thirds of its innings from this season.
“What we need more than anything from Kyle Perry is to be a great example for Husker baseball,” Bolt said. “He’s always been an awesome teammate but when you’re a sixth-year player the eyes are on you. Making sure everything he does every single day is with Husker baseball at the front of his mind and being a great example for the young players. That’s what I’m excited to see from him.”
Recruiting rolls on: Nebraska has at least 25 new players set to arrive this fall and may still be in the market for one or two more before then, Bolt said. Those would probably come from the transfer portal, which has swelled to north of 4,000 names.
The Husker roster will likely be around 45 players this fall before trimming down to the 40-man limit when next season begins in mid-February.
“When it comes to the transfers, you’re looking for guys that are running to something – for us, at least,” Bolt said. “Different opportunity, moving up in the ranks a little bit in terms of getting into a Power Five conference. Maybe it’s a guy we’ve had a relationship with in the past. A lot to navigate. I’ve got a really hard-working staff that’s on top of it.”