 After being selected twice by the Toronto Blue Jays in the and 1994 amateur drafts, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the .Nelson made it to the majors in , seeing two stints of an inning apiece in mop-up duty, where his ERA was 36.00.Released by the Braves the following summer, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox and quickly released after four appearances for Double-A Trenton.