Positive momentum has continued to build for Nathan Archer, and that could lead to a memorable moment within the next couple of days.
The former Bowling Green State University baseball standout and 2024 Mid-American Conference player of the year is feeling optimistic heading into this week’s MLB draft. After a highly successful and historic three-year BGSU career, Archer has gotten plenty of national attention recently while producing at a high level in the MLB Draft League.
“Ever since the college season ended, I’ve been doing some pre-draft workouts for some teams, and then I got to play in the MLB Draft League for a couple weeks, so everything leading up to it has been good so far,” Archer said. “... I think it’s important to just be feeling good going into it.
“I’ve been really fortunate to have some success this summer, and I feel like I’m in a good place.”
Archer will look to become BGSU’s first MLB draft pick in nearly a decade; Trey Keegan and Brian Bien were the last Falcons selected in 2015. The 2024 MLB draft begins Sunday night with the first round, followed by rounds three through 10 on Monday and rounds 11 through 20 on Tuesday.
For the past month and a half, Archer has been busy playing for the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League. The 6-foot, 175-pound left-hander and centerfielder from Lagrange, Ohio, is batting .333 with two doubles, one triple, nine runs, 10 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 16 of the team’s 32 games (72 at bats).
Of qualified players, Archer is seventh in the league in batting average, tied for 13th in hits, and tied for 16th in stolen bases.
“It’s a very professional environment,” Archer said of the league. “Playing every day, being in a professional clubhouse, it’s really felt like the real thing.
“Obviously, the talent there is very good, so being able to see high-quality arms every single day has been really important for me.”
His play has garnered attention recently from the likes of mlb.com, which listed Archer as the best 2024 draft prospect from Ohio, as well as d1baseball.com, which named Archer as one of its top under-the-radar draft eligible hitters to watch.
According to the d1baseball.com article, Archer is “a middle of the diamond speed/power prospect” and a “plus runner with developing juice.”
“[Archer] shows strong bat to ball skills in areas, especially the upper half and inside three-quarters of the strike zone,” the article stated, “but he still must refine his approach and patience at the plate.”
Archer said a good chunk of MLB teams have reached out or talked to him ahead of the draft, and that the feedback has been positive.
“Obviously, the draft is really unpredictable, but I think I put myself in a good position just kind of with the way that I play, the energy that I bring,” he said.
BGSU baseball coach Kyle Hallock echoed those sentiments of how communication has been between Archer and pro teams.
“Everything’s been really positive when it comes to Nathan’s opportunity that he’s going to have at the next level. A lot of what we’ve heard has been somewhere in the day two range,” Hallock said. “He went out and put up good numbers.
“He’s always had professional tools when it comes to his speed, his power, and his ability to hit for average and do a lot of things really well, and then the numbers kind of matched that this year for him. He’s obviously a great defender that’s going to be able to stay in the middle of the field and play center field at the next level, so that just kind of separates himself amongst other people that they’re considering.”
In his time in northwest Ohio, Archer cemented himself in the BGSU record book.
During the 2024 campaign, Archer broke the program record for total at bats (247) and at bats in a game (eight vs. Ball State on March 16). The leadoff hitter also finished fourth in runs scored in a season (66), second in RBIs (64), tied for third in home runs (18), and third in total bases (148).
For his career, Archer finished tied for sixth in BGSU history in triples (10), tied for fourth in home runs (35), seventh in total bases (340), and tied for eighth in RBIs (137). The two-time all-MAC selection and two-time MAC defensive team honoree had a career batting average of .299 with 33 doubles, 39 stolen bases, and 136 runs while starting 153 of the 154 games he played in — out of 155 total BGSU games the past three seasons.
“I know it and teams know it that there’s always things that I’m going to be able to improve on over the course of a couple years. But I think they can get a bit of a Swiss Army knife with me,” Archer said. “I think that there’s a lot of different things that I can do to help teams win.”
Archer said his biggest sales pitch to MLB teams to take a chance on him is that he’s a winner who plays with an extra chip on his shoulder.
“I’ve never been highly recruited or a highly touted prospect, so it’s just something that’s kind of stuck with me throughout my whole college career,” Archer said. “It’s not going anywhere once I get into pro ball.”
Added Hallock: “He was raised by great parents and comes from a very humble background, so I think it kind of really started to sink in that he’s going to play at the next level last summer when he performed well in the Cape Cod League. His trip over there allowed him to find his place in the game and to realize I’m not just pretty good for around here; I’m really good for what’s out there in the country.
“He picked back up with that this spring for us, and the thing that separates him is he’s a guy you can win with, which is proof in our season. He’s MAC player of the year and he helped lead us to a [regular-season] championship, so him going to the draft league is just a continuation of that. Whoever is fortunate enough to select him, they’re going to get a winner in him when they pick him and put him in their organization.”
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