By Pat Harty

IOWW CITY, Iowa – For Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller, the final days leading up to the annual Major League Baseball Draft are always stressful and filled with uncertainty and a sense of helplessness.

And this year is certainly no exception.

Heller is prepared to lose pitchers Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan to the draft, which starts on Sunday, along with outfielder Sam Peterson.

But after them?

Who knows.

“This is probably the most stressful year with the draft that I’ve had because you know you’re going to lose Brody, you know you’re going to lose Marcus and we are probably going to lose Petersen for sure,” Heller said Friday morning in a telephone interview.

Heller then mentioned several current and future Hawkeye baseball players, including All-Big Ten third baseman Raider Tello, pitcher Cade Obermueller and outfielder Andy Nelson, that could either be selected in the 20-round draft or they could sign as free agents if the money is acceptable.

“We just have so many guys that we really don’t know if they’re going to go or not, and it’s just been like unfortunately being in draft jail from a recruiting standpoint to try to get the team organized and the roster ready for the season,” Heller said. “So, all of us in the baseball office will certainly be glad when the things shake out, so we know where we’re at. But Major League Baseball certainly hasn’t done us any favors by moving the draft back this late”

The Major League Baseball draft used to be held in early June, and until 2019, it lasted up to 40 rounds.

It was hard enough for college baseball coaches to assemble rosters under the previous setup.

But with the draft now in mid-July, and with the fall semester at the University of Iowa set to start in barely a month, Heller is trying to raise NIL money for a roster that could change dramatically.

“That’s the thing, you just don’t know,” Heller said. “With a 40-round draft, every one of those guys is gone probably.

“But with a 20-round draft, and half as many opportunities for players, you just don’t know.”

Heller’s concern with the Major League Draft goes beyond just the timing of it.

He explained how it has little in common with the NBA draft or the NFL draft, and how that isn’t a positive.

“The baseball draft to me is a stupid draft,” Heller said. “If you look at the other major sports, they draft the best players kind of in order, right. It’s pretty simple.

“Baseball doesn’t. They don’t draft the best players in order. They draft based on who they can get for low money in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth rounds to use that money in the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th rounds, get guys that they want there, money. They offer low money to the seniors in those rounds. It’s just wild to me.”

One thing that seems almost certain about this year’s draft is that Brecht should go early in the draft, probably in the first round.

Brecht came on the strong during the second half of the 2024 season, posting five quality starts and fanning 128 batters over 78.1 innings.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Ankeny native also ranked fourth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.71) and seventh in total strikeouts.

Brecht’s fastball has been clocked as high as 104 miles per hour, but he also has a slider that is close to unhittable at the college level when Brecht has his good stuff and a vastly improved change up.

He struggled with his command, and with his control, at times as a Hawkeye.

But he seems to have solved those issues based on his performance down the stretch.

Brecht came to Iowa on a football scholarship as a wide receiver, and he juggled both sports for more than a year before ultimately choosing baseball exclusively.

That choice certainly makes sense now with Brecht on the verge of cashing in financially as a potential first-round pick.

“I’m hearing anywhere from around 15 to 20, 25,” Heller said of Brecht’s potential landing spot in the first round. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if he went before that. With the modern draft twenty rounds, who the heck knows.”

And while there is always uncertainty in the Major League Draft about a player’s upside and potential, Heller puts Brecht in a different category.

“It’s going to be 100 percent based on what they see and what they project, but to me, I think it’s pretty easy to project Brody,” Heller said. “The way he pitched the last five weeks of the season, barring anything crazy, I think he’s going to be in the big leagues fairly soon once he gets there.”

Heller compared Brecht to former Iowa pitcher Adam Mazur, who now pitches for the San Diego Padres. It took Mazur barely two years to reach the major league level.

“I think Brody will be in a similar situation as far as getting moved up quick if everything goes well and he stays healthy and all those things,” Heller said.

Iowa is coming off a season in which it finished 31-23 overall and 14-10 in Big Ten play. Iowa also made the conference tournament, but lost both games in Omaha.

Sean McGrath resigned as the pitching coach shortly after the season and has since been replaced by Sean Kenny, who was the pitching coach for Houston this past season.

Morgan’s situation heading into the draft is more uncertain, partly due to his struggles this past season.

There were times when Morgan’s stuff was electric. But he also struggled with walks and with allowing too many free bases.

Morgan walked 53 batters over 54.1 innings this past season. He also hit 19 batters and threw 10 wild pitches.

But he also had 64 strikeouts.

“Marcus is going to get graded on stuff,” Heller said. “That’s the thing. Everybody has seen Marcus plenty of times and they have seen Marcus when he was lights out and really good and they’ve also seen him when he has had his troubles.

“But the stuff is there, and the potential is there and that’s going to pay big dividends for Marcus on draft day.”

As for Petersen, he missed the last month of the 2024 season due to a leg injury that has since healed.

He was hitting .333 when the injury occurred, and he had five home runs and 17 stolen bases.

Petersen also received All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore.

He also recovered in time this spring and summer to showcase his skills for scouts.

“Petersen had back luck,” Heller said. “He was injured and didn’t get to play much the last five weeks of the season. But the good thing about the draft is it’s based on what they’ve seen before and not so much on what you’ve seen lately if that makes any sense.

“I think Sam is in good shape based on his performance leading up to his injury and his two summers were outstanding. Sam’s a great player and is going to be a great pro player.”

2024 Major League Baseball Draft

When: Sunday through Tuesday

Where: Cowtown Coliseum, Fort Worth Texas

TV: MLB Network, ESPN (first round)