There’s a summer job awaiting Kyle Heckathorn. It involves demanding outdoor work, relocating and a lot of traveling.

He’s eager to begin.

Heckathorn, a former Ringgold High School star, will hear his name selected sometime early Tuesday in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Kennesaw State University junior pitcher is likely to be a first-round selection, many scouts have said, and has been told he will slip no further than the first 10 picks of the second round.

The demand for the right-hander, whose fastball has been clocked at 98 mph this year and consistently reaches 94-95, has been such that he could go to any team.

“I really have no idea who will take me,” Heckathorn said. “I don’t care, either. It will be such a privilege to be picked. I’ve talked to all 30 teams and they all act like they’re interested. I would, obviously, like to be picked in the first round.”

Recent projections have him going anywhere from the Cardinals at pick 19 or the Blue Jays at 20 to the Yankees at 28 or the Rays at 30. If he slips into the second round, the Indians have “high” interest him, the pitcher said.

“This whole process has been unbelievable,” said Heckathorn, who was 4-1 as a KSU junior with a 3.44 earned run average and 98 strikeouts in 86 1/3 innings pitched. “Just the fact that a team is considering drafting you with their first pick is a dream come true.”

The former Times Free Press All-North Georgia Player of the Year started earning national attention after impressing scouts during his sophomore season at Kennesaw. He was the subject of a Baseball America story early this spring and was mentioned as a potential top-10 draft pick early in the season. He capped his junior season with 15 strikeouts in a win over North Florida, which earned him a Louisville Slugger national player of the week award.

Along with his elite fastball, Heckathorn throws what MLB.com describes as a “dominating, power slider which reaches 90 mph.” However, that same report says he needs work on his poise and that his fastball, though stout, tends to straighten out at times.

“Heckathorn is sure to be fairly high on everyone’s list, thanks to his size, strength and pure power arsenal,” the report summarizes. “He can pump his fastball up into the mid- to upper 90s, has a hard slider to go along with it and generally throws strikes. The one puzzling thing about the right-hander has been that he hasn’t dominated his competition or missed bats as much as you’d expect with that stuff.”

Kennesaw coach Mike Sansing believes Heckathorn’s third pitch, a work-in-progress changeup, will eventually be the key to his professional success.

“He has such great arm speed with it,” Sansing told Baseball America. “It’s very difficult when you throw in the upper 90s and you’ve got to look for a changeup, too.”

As the next phase of his life comes into focus, Heckathorn can’t help but look back on three years that changed his life. He said he will always look back on his college days favorably.

“It’s been tremendous,” he said. “All the work everyone has put in helping me to develop into the pitcher I’ve become is something I’ll always remember. I’ve matured both as a pitcher and person. I can’t tell you what will happen, but just getting drafted is a great accomplishment.

“I can’t wait to get started.”