Has it been three years already?
Andrew Oliver, an All-Ohio standout at Vermilion High who was selected in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, will be waiting for a phone call again today when the first-year player draft gets under way.
Mock drafts have Oliver going anywhere from No. 9 to the Detroit Tigers to slipping into the second round.
“There’s so many unknowns when you go into the draft — it’s a hodgepodge of sorts,” Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson said. “It’s an anxious time for those kids and it ends up being a really good deal for some and a not-so-good deal for others.”
It was one of the not-so-good varieties that led to Oliver turning down the Twins’ contract offer out of high school and choosing a career with the Cowboys. The junior still has a year of eligibility remaining and could return to Oklahoma State if he doesn’t sign with the team that selects him this year.
Oliver is keeping his options open.
“I don’t really have high expectations,” he said. “I’ve seen a couple (mock drafts), but that’s something I don’t get too caught up in. That’s kind of like a crapshoot, because you just don’t know for sure.”
You can just about find Oliver taken with every pick in the first round through various online mock drafts — mlbdraftsite.com has him going No. 15 to the Cleveland Indians — but three of the top draft experts believe he’ll be selected in the second half of the first round or later.
Michael Huang of The Sporting News thinks the Toronto Blue Jays will take Oliver with the 20th pick, Jim Callis of Baseball America has him going to the Twins again at No. 22 and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com didn’t list Oliver among his first-round selections.
“Oliver has one of the best lefty fastballs in this draft,” Callis, executive editor of Baseball America magazine, said in an e-mail. “It’s so good that he could use it 80 percent of the time and have success at the college level. He’s going to have to mix it up more in pro ball — he’s gotten away from throwing a curveball that was pretty good last year. He’s going to need that back, and to refine a change-up, to be a starter.
“Though it’s not terrible to have a lefty with a nasty fastball coming out of your bullpen, either.”
Anderson has had a closer look at Oliver than anyone over the last three years. The coach believes Oliver will eventually be a major league starter and is in good shape already for a professional career.
“I think he’s got a workable change-up — I think it’s got a chance to be a really good change-up — and I think he has a workable breaking ball,” Anderson said.
“I think he’ll be fine with his other pitches. (The scouts are) always worried about whether guys can pitch with their fastball, and he can definitely do that. The secondary stuff is usually the last to come on, but his fastball command around the plate is really good, so I’d think that would be a huge plus.”
The developing change-up seems key to determining Oliver’s role as a professional. Huang believes the overpowering fastball screams major league reliever, while the underdeveloped change-up doesn’t give Oliver the third pitch he needs to be a dominant starter.
“It’s kind of like a show pitch right now, he doesn’t really throw it for strikes,” Huang said. “The slider’s definitely above average and the fastball’s a plus.
“He’s pretty solid. In short stints I’m told that he not only just touches 96 (mph), but he stays up there. When you’re a left-hander, that’s pretty darn good.”
Oliver wowed scouts, fans and anyone else who was watching during his sophomore season when he went 7-2 with a 2.20 ERA, and then went 2-0 with an 0.93 ERA to help Team USA win a gold medal at the FISU World Championships.
Oliver’s numbers fell off a bit this season, but many publications believe it may be due to the Cowboys’ weaker defense and less run support. Anderson added, “He pitched on Friday nights in our league and matched up against everybody’s best guy.”
Several scouts pointed to his curveball — listed as one of the best in college in 2008 — falling off during his junior year, and Oliver addressed some of the issues he had.
“This year I was kind of going between a curve and a slider,” he said. “In the beginning of the season I’d hang my curveball, so I went back to the slider and it’s been a little inconsistent. So I’ve been working on it. I rely heavily on my fastball — working it in and out, and it has some life on it so people can’t square it up.”
Oliver reiterated that he’ll be happy either signing with a pro club or finishing his college career, although “my ultimate goal, obviously, is to play in the big leagues.”
It’s a goal his college coach thinks will happen sooner rather than later.
“Obviously, he’s one of the top left-handers in the country,” Anderson said. “He’s got terrific arm strength and he pitches at a high level in one of the best leagues in the country. He’s got everything you’re looking for.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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