Max Anderson grew up following the Major League Baseball draft. He got the prospect magazines. He watched the early round selections on television with his dad and brother.
The 21-year-old Nebraska infielder is still wrapping his head around the idea that this time he’ll see his own name pop up — and likely early on.
“It’s pretty cool that I’m able to live it now,” Anderson said. “I’m anxious, excited, nervous and everything all at the same time.”
He isn’t the only one. After a relatively quiet 2022 draft, this year’s is rich with local potential. The three-day event — spanning 20 rounds and 614 picks — begins Sunday at 6 p.m. from Lumen Field in Seattle.
Opening night will be broadcast live by ESPN and MLB Network and could feature as many as three in-state juniors among the initial two rounds and 70 selections. Nebraska shortstop Brice Matthews is a consensus choice to go in that range by five different outlets that project him to be taken anywhere from 30th to 57th overall. The tools-y Houston native is coming off an All-America spring as NU’s first-ever 20-homer, 20-steal man.
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The outlook is perhaps less certain for Anderson following a season in which he finished among the top 10 in college baseball with a .414 batting average and slugged 21 home runs. Future Star Series mocks the Millard West product to go 37th. ESPN says 113th, which would be the middle of the fourth round. Scouts generally consider the 6-foot, 215-pounder a defensive tweener around the infield with elite bat-to-ball skills.
“If I start thinking about that stuff (with projections) it’s going to get away from being my dream coming true,” said Anderson, who will be following along in Omaha. “Just soaking in the moment is the biggest thing for me. If things roll good and I like where it’s at, it’ll be pro ball for sure.”
Meanwhile, an Omaha Maverick is on the verge of being an MLB draft selection for the first time in seven years and tabbed in a single-digit round for the first time since 1979. Third baseman Mike Boeve — with predictions to be gone no later than 111th overall and more likely in the top 80 — will almost certainly be the program’s highest pick since pitcher David Kaster went fourth overall in 1971.
Boeve, the Hastings native who hit .401 with four homers in 47 games this year, will take in the moment with roommates and friends. Pro ball seemed far-fetched to him in high school when Omaha and Valparaiso were his only Division I school suitors. It seems unreal that he’s getting this chance, he said, considering his father and longtime coach, Jim, never did following a standout career at Northwestern College that culminated with being an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team in 1984.
Boeve said he’s heard he could stick at third base — he made just five errors there in the spring — or move anywhere else on the infield and outfield. Even catcher.
“I try and embrace it all because it can really only happen once,” Boeve said. “I think a lot of people would love the opportunity to be in this spot so I try to remind myself of that.”
Local intrigue will linger into the rest of the draft, including rounds 3-10 Monday and 11-20 Tuesday, starting at 1 p.m. Among the most interested parties will be the two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year in Millard South shortstop Camden Kozeal. The Vanderbilt commit has spent the last six weeks in a collegiate wood-bat league in New Hampshire but is back home eager to gain clarity on his immediate future.
The deciding criteria will be the dollar figure, Kozeal said — a team will either match it or not. Vandy coach Tim Corbin flew to the Northeast last week to discuss the situation with him. NIL compensation will also be a factor in his process. Kozeal has been projected to go between 102nd and 190th — between the fourth and sixth rounds — but may not be chosen at all if organizations don’t believe they can sign him. He could theoretically be drafted later and still turn pro if a team overpays for his slot position.
“For me, it’s a 50-50 shot,” Kozeal said. “But I’ll be happy wherever I end up. Vanderbilt is a dream come true so I’m just excited to see what happens. You give your number and it’s either yes or no. It’ll be pretty instant.”
Nebraska also has a pair of starting pitchers in play in Emmett Olson and Jace Kaminska. Both juniors were part of the Huskers’ weekend rotation in the spring and are likely to move on. Olson holds a general projection between the sixth and 10th rounds while Kaminska — who made clear when he transferred from Wichita State last summer that he expected it to be a one-and-done situation — could be taken late or sign somewhere as an undrafted free agent.
Other potential prep draftees could include Blair pitcher Shea Wendt (a Creighton commit), Elkhorn South pitcher Cole Eaton (Tennessee) and Elkhorn North pitcher Ryan Harrahill (Nebraska). Also appearing on various mock drafts are former in-staters like South Mountain C.C. right-hander Jaxon Jelkin (Bellevue West grad, former Husker and Houston pledge), Lipscomb lefty Logan Van Treeck (Lincoln Southeast grad) and Arkansas outfielder Jared Wegner (Kearney native and former Creighton player).
Righty Travis Sykora — a Texas commit and previous Husker pledge out of Round Rock, Texas — is also likely to be selected in the early rounds.
Industry consensus is that a clear-cut overall top five has emerged. That consists of LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, LSU pitcher Paul Skenes and Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford — all participants in the College World Series title round last month in Omaha — and a pair of high school outfielders in Walker Jenkins and Max Clark.
This is the third straight year the draft coincides with MLB All-Star weekend instead of June, where it had played out since the draft’s inception in 1965. The event has undergone major changes in the wake of the pandemic — it had long been at least 40 rounds and well above 1,000 picks until 2020 and has now settled at 20 rounds for a third straight year as pro teams trim their minor-league systems and shift more of the developmental legwork to college programs.
Nebraska saw its 27-year streak of having a player drafted end in the five-round 2020 affair and also was shut out last July across 616 picks. The Huskers landed two selections in the first three rounds in 2021 between pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Cade Povich.
Big Red has only once celebrated multiple positions players going in the first five rounds of the same draft (outfielders Adam Stern and John Cole in 2001). Only five Husker position players have been top five-rounders this century including Ryan Boldt (second in 2016), Cody Asche (fourth in 2011) and Alex Gordon (first in 2005).
“Teammates and coaches (at Nebraska) helped me keep the game fun,” Anderson said. “I’m ready to play some baseball and hit some balls as far as I can.”