It’s draft day for Keller

CEDAR RAPIDS - He's doing OK with all the pressure. Probably better than most people would.

'Kind of nervous, but more excited right now than anything else,” Mitch Keller said.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier pitcher's future very well could be determined over a four-hour stretch Thursday night. That's when Major League Baseball holds the first two rounds of its 2014 amateur draft.

If the 6-foot-3 right-hander hears his name called, he's likely to become a professional. If not, there's a better-than-average chance he'll head to the University of North Carolina.

'I'm pretty sure that if I'm picked at some point (Thursday), I'll probably sign,” he said. 'But it's all open. I'm open for anything.”

With the first round, Competitive Balance Round A, second round and Competitive Balance Round B, 74 players will be selected Thursday night. The draft begins at 6 p.m.

Virtually every 'expert” has Keller ranked among the top 70 available players, so you do the math, which is a huge part of this, of course. MLB has assigned specific dollar amounts to each pick of the draft, with the first 56 worth a million dollars or more.

Even in the top 70, you're looking at an $800,000 signing bonus. Clubs don't have to abide by the preset values but do get a specific amount of money (depending on the amount of picks they have and where they are) to sign all of their picks within the first 10 rounds.

If they go over, they are heavily taxed.

Keller was among what he estimated to be 25 to 30 players who were invited to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City last weekend to meet with the Kansas City Royals front office. He threw 15 to 20 pitches from the stadium mound and even had a locker in the visiting clubhouse with his name on it.

'That was really fun,” he said. 'It was exciting to pitch on a big league mound like that.”

The draft continues Friday at noon with rounds three through 10 and concludes Saturday (noon start time again) with rounds 11 through 40.

Ankeny pitcher Keaton McKinney also is projected to be drafted within the first five rounds.

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