Nick Czyz drafted by Seattle Mariners

This from the KU news release:

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas junior Nick Czyz has been selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 35th round of the Major League Baseball first year player draft. Czyz is the third Jayhawk to go in this year’s draft as junior pitcher Sam Freeman (St. Louis) was taken in the 32^nd round, and senior outfielder Ryne Price (San Francisco) was selected in the 33^rd round.

Czyz, a 6-foot- from Blue Springs, Kan., made a team-high 13 starts for the Jayhawks this season and complied a 2-7 mark with a 6.12 ERA. Czyz struck out 59 in 64 2/3 innings and pitched the team to wins over North Dakota State and Texas Tech. Czyz is tied for ninth in KU history for most games started.

He becomes the second member of his family drafted after suiting up for the Crimson and Blue. Nick’s older brother Don Czyz was selected in the seventh round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins.

And here is bkmhoxx' take:

Nick Czyz LHP (6'2, 215 lbs)
Czyz is a junior. Hes a talented leftie with a fastball in the 86-90 range. He has a good off speed pitch and a good curve but neither are a very solid "out" pitch quite yet. If he can improve his command and find an "out" pitch, my guess would be 8th round on the high side, 15th round on the low side.

CURRENT TAKE: Czyz had a good year. He had a few bad outings which ruined a few of his numbers. He showed increased velocity on his fastball which came in in the low 90's while topping out at 93/94. His slider worked well and came in around 80/81. I would say that his slider is now officially an "out" pitch. He had a 6.12 ERA in 64.2 innings, giving up 74 hits, striking out 59 and walking 41. He definitely needs to improve his command and cut down on the walks but right now, he definitely shows signs of a good bullpen guy for the next level. I originally guessed rounds 8-15 and i would probably narrow that down to somewhere near the 15th round at this point. I do think Nick could come back and be a top pitcher in the Big 12 next year and really improve his draft status. It will depend how much money he is offered this year. He has a good chance to be the first Jayhawk drafted.

Nick never really found his groove in 2008 and his final numbers lean in a disappointing direction.  It seemed most of Nick's problems came from not being able to economize on pitch counts which prevented him from getting deep into games as a starter.  He had many of his games marred by one bad inning, which almost always fell later in the game after he may have lost some crispness due to fatigue.  Nick maintained excellent K/9 and H/9 ratios and did put together several superb starts against quality opponents.  I am very optimistic that Nick can take the next step and become a very solid Big-12 starting pitcher.  He has been right on the edge of this performance level throughout his three years at KU.  I hope Nick decides to return for his senior year.  He has a very good chance to improve his draft status and, speaking selfishly, I want him in the rotation next year.