No. 35 overall Nelson linked to legend Bench

CINCINNATI -- Even before he was drafted by the Reds, Mat Nelson already had a connection established with a member of the club’s royalty and the game’s all-time greatest catcher -- Johnny Bench.

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Nelson, who was taken 35th overall by Cincinnati on Sunday in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2021 MLB Draft, received a text from Bench a couple of weeks ago during a catching clinic for the annual Buster Posey Award. On Monday, as Nelson met on Zoom with the media for the first time after being picked, Bench also joined in.

“I looked down at my phone. It was like, the Johnny Bench has my phone number and is texting me.’ I didn’t know he was going to be on this Zoom call,” Nelson said. “He is somebody that I look up to. He is a legend in the game.”

A product of Florida State, Nelson is a winner of the Posey Award and, fittingly, the Johnny Bench Award. Both awards recognize the top college catcher in the nation. Nelson will be at Great American Ball Park on July 20 to formally receive his award from Bench.

“I had a chance to talk to Mat the other day to announce the fact that he won the award. It’s really special for me,” Bench said. "We’ve got a wonderful catcher and of course, to see him drafted, my gosh, I was only a second-round Draft choice [in 1965], so this kid has really got something going for him.”

Nelson, 22, was named the ACC Player of the Year after he batted .330 with 23 home runs and 66 RBIs in 53 games. The unanimous All-American led the nation in homers and is the highest drafted Florida State catcher since Posey was taken fifth overall in 2008.

Clearly, Nelson has credentials as a college hitter. But Bench was more interested in his defensive ability.

“As catchers -- I watch their feet and their transfer. That’s something obviously you worked on considerably during that period of time,” Bench told Nelson. “It wasn’t just hitting. It was the fact that you were working on the catching skill. The feet and the transfer are the key thing for any catcher.”

“I entirely agree, you’re entirely right,” Nelson replied. “I did spend a lot of time -- not just working on the arm strength but also trying to get my feet quicker.”

In 2020, the Draft was only five rounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Nelson was eligible to be taken but ultimately was passed over by each organization.

Over a span of one year, Nelson went from undrafted to a first-round pick.

“It means everything,” he said. “I watched the Draft go by last year and as soon as the Draft ended, I told myself from that day forward that I was going to be a first-rounder. It’s just something that I promised myself. It’s not that I wanted to be one, but I just wanted to prove what I was worth. I wanted to prove where I could be and where I should go. Everything I’ve done in the offseason, everything I’ve done this season, it really paid off and it really does show everything I dedicated myself to.”

The No. 35 pick has a slot bonus value worth $2,095,800.

Nelson, who is listed at 5-foot-11, 209 pounds and bats right-handed, dropped to 185 pounds during last year’s shutdown before bulking back up in 2021.

“I got really strong, really athletic and I just got the barrel to the ball and the rest took care of itself,” Nelson said from his home in Largo, Fla. “I never once tried to hit a home run. Everything came as it did, and I worked a lot on the mental aspect of the game. I really focused on being positive and having an optimistic view on things.”

After meeting Bench in person next week, Nelson will head to the club’s complex in Goodyear, Ariz., upon signing his contract to be evaluated. He hasn’t played in over a month since the college season ended. But he’s ready to take his catching philosophy with him to the professional level.

“I’m very big on the old-style school of catching,” Nelson said. “I just love to play gritty, block a lot of balls and give my pitchers the best opportunity they can to throw strikes.”

Final day of Draft completed
The third and final day of the 2021 MLB Draft was completed Tuesday with Rounds 11-20. In a unique development for the club this year, all but one of its 22 selections in the entire Draft were college players.

“It was certainly not something we planned on going into it. It just ended up that way," Reds director of amateur scouting Brad Meador said. "You know you’re not going to be able to get high school players [on the last day] unless you just have a lot of extra money, which we didn’t. At the same time, we took high school guys last year, [so] we have some really talented, exciting young players in our system.

“It fits our organization right now, and our system. Some of these college guys will be able to move quick and it helps us balance out as an organization. That’s a good thing.”