Matheu Nelson

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Cincinnati Reds #11 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: Nelson was a star at Calvary Christian High in Clearwater, Fla., on a team that won 60 straight games and had Hall of Famer Roy Halladay on the coaching staff. He was an immediate starter as a freshman at Florida State. After going undrafted in 2020, he blossomed in 2021. His power improved, and his 23 home runs led all Division I hitters and vaulted him into the supplemental first round.
  
  Scouting Report: Nelson took a pitch off his wrist in his 10th game as a Red and missed the rest of the season, although he returned to action at instructional league. He has a chance to be an extremely well-rounded catcher with an ability to get on base, hit for power and play solid defense behind the plate. He’s good at blocking pitches in the dirt, and is an average receiver with a plus arm. Offensively, he uses the whole field, although he’ll swing and miss enough to be a fringe-average hitter. He likes to get his arms extended. A pitcher who can work inside consistently can neutralize him, but he’ll do enough damage on pitches on the middle or outer third of the plate to have above-average power.
  
  The Future: Nelson was one of the older players in the 2021 draft class. That’s mildly concerning, but otherwise he has the look of a valuable everyday catcher. With Tyler Stephenson just settling into the everyday job, Nelson has time to develop.
  

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #50 prospect in 2021 draft
  Nelson ranked squarely in the middle of the BA 500 in the 2020 class, at No. 250, thanks to an all-around profile with a compact swing and solid arm strength, but no obvious carrying tools. A year later, Nelson has dramatically shifted his profile and improved his draft stock, thanks to one of the better offensive seasons of any Power 5 Conference player. Through 52 games, Nelson was tied for the Division I lead with 23 home runs, while putting up a .330/.436/.773 slash line. Nelson has a compact and strong frame, listed at 5-foot-11, 209 pounds, and his homers this season have been scattered from the left-field line to the right-center gap, with a majority of them coming off of fastballs. There is some swing and miss to Nelson’s game, and he also struggled with pitches on the inner third and with spin, but when he’s able to get his hands extended he has shown an ability to do plenty of damage. He has the defensive tools to stick behind the plate, with some scouts saying he is one of the better catch-and-throw backstops in the country in a class where most of the top college backstops are bat-first types. He has easy, plus arm strength and has shown an ability to throw quickly and with good carry from his knees, with solid blocking and receiving ability as well. Nelson is old for the class but has a chance to be an everyday catcher with some power.
• Ranked #249 prospect in 2020 draft
  Nelson was a prominent prospect out of high school in 2018. He ranked No. 280 on the BA 500 that year thanks to an all-around profile that included solid arm strength and a compact swing from the right side. Now a draft-eligible sophomore, Nelson slots into a similar range on the draft board. Nelson had an excellent freshman campaign, hitting .282/.442/.442 with six home runs and an on-base percentage that was second for the Seminoles behind current Nationals prospect Drew Mendoza. Nelson went to the Cape Cod League the following summer, where he struggled with the bat—.163/.280/.233 in 14 games—but showed good catch-and-throw skills and did a nice job handling the pitching staff. Because Nelson has no carrying tools, his stock depends largely on his production in the ACC and teams might prefer to see him head back to campus in Tallahassee and build more of an offensive resume. Listed at 5-foot-11, 210-pounds, Nelson is close to maxed out physically and has more gap power than over-the-fence juice, but he does have a solid, short swing and solid plate discipline. Behind the plate Nelson has above-average arm strength and solid receiving and blocking skills.
• Ranked #260 prospect in 2018 draft
  A solid, all-around catcher committed to Florida State, Nelson impressed scouts over the summer with solid-average arm strength that has a chance to be plus in the future thanks to an above-average release. Scouts believe he will be a solid or above-average defensive catcher, with the ability to throw with both strength and accuracy from his knees. Offensively, Nelson has a compact, level swing with average bat speed that's more suited for spraying doubles to all fields than hitting home runs. He has present strength in his compact, 5-foot-11, 195-pound frame, but it's hard to project him with much more than average power in the future.

• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Nelson was a star at Calvary Christian High in Clearwater, Fla., on a team that won 60 straight games and had Hall of Famer Roy Halladay on the coaching staff. He was an immediate starter as a freshman at Florida State. After going undrafted in 2020, he blossomed in 2021. His power improved, and his 23 home runs led all Division I hitters and vaulted him into the supplemental first round.
  
  Scouting Report: Nelson took a pitch off his wrist in his 10th game as a Red and missed the rest of the season, although he returned to action at instructional league. He has a chance to be an extremely well-rounded catcher with an ability to get on base, hit for power and play solid defense behind the plate. He’s good at blocking pitches in the dirt, and is an average receiver with a plus arm. Offensively, he uses the whole field, although he’ll swing and miss enough to be a fringe-average hitter. He likes to get his arms extended. A pitcher who can work inside consistently can neutralize him, but he’ll do enough damage on pitches on the middle or outer third of the plate to have above-average power.
  
  The Future: Nelson was one of the older players in the 2021 draft class. That’s mildly concerning, but otherwise he has the look of a valuable everyday catcher. With Tyler Stephenson just settling into the everyday job, Nelson has time to develop.
  
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  Nelson ranked squarely in the middle of the BA 500 in the 2020 class, at No. 250, thanks to an all-around profile with a compact swing and solid arm strength, but no obvious carrying tools. A year later, Nelson has dramatically shifted his profile and improved his draft stock, thanks to one of the better offensive seasons of any Power 5 Conference player. Through 52 games, Nelson was tied for the Division I lead with 23 home runs, while putting up a .330/.436/.773 slash line. Nelson has a compact and strong frame, listed at 5-foot-11, 209 pounds, and his homers this season have been scattered from the left-field line to the right-center gap, with a majority of them coming off of fastballs. There is some swing and miss to Nelson's game, and he also struggled with pitches on the inner third and with spin, but when he's able to get his hands extended he has shown an ability to do plenty of damage. He has the defensive tools to stick behind the plate, with some scouts saying he is one of the better catch-and-throw backstops in the country in a class where most of the top college backstops are bat-first types. He has easy, plus arm strength and has shown an ability to throw quickly and with good carry from his knees, with solid blocking and receiving ability as well. Nelson is old for the class but has a chance to be an everyday catcher with some power.