The New York Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Nick Nelson in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, FL. He was given a slot bonus of $455,400. He was previously selected in the 2014 draft in the 31st round by the San Francisco Giants.

He was part of the same draft class as Nick Solak, Blake Rutherford and Nolan Martinez.

2016

The Yankees assigned Nelson to the Rookie level Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League. In 10 games, all of which were starts, Nelson went 0-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 21 and one-thirds innings pitched. He allowed 14 hits and struggled with his control walking 22 batters to produce a 1.688 WHIP. He also struck out 19 batters.

2017

For 2017, the Yankees bumped up Nelson to the low Class A Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League. He struggled to a 3-12 record with a 4.56 ERA in 22 starts. Control was an issue once again walking 50 batters and allowing 103 hits in 100 and two-thirds innings producing a WHIP of . Nelson would often struggle to get deep in games putting lots of runners on the basepaths and surrendering runs early.