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By William Huff, Thomasville Times-Enterprise

With the 24 pick in the 2024 MLB draft, the Atlanta Braves selected left-handed pitcher and high schooler 17-year-old Cam Caminiti out of Saguaro High in Scottsdale, Arizona. Caminiti was the seventh high schooler drafted in the first round of the 2024 edition of the MLB draft and was the first high school pitcher taken.

“It feels incredible,” Caminiti said in an interview with MLB Network just moments after being drafted. “I was a little nervous, but now I’m just excited to be on the next step in the journey and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Caminiti has some family ties to the MLB. He is the cousin of the late Ken Caminiti, who was an MVP and played for the Braves for a short time during his 15-year career. He most notably played for the Padres, where he was a three-time All-Star, won the MVP in 1996 and hit 40 homers in 1994. Caminiti said he wears number 11 in honor of his late cousin.

According to Saguaro High’s MaxPreps stats, Caminiti had one of the great senior seasons in high school baseball. He went 9-0 in 10 appearances for the Sabercats and gave up just 19 hits and 10 runs all season. He secured a truly ridiculous 119 strikeouts averaging almost 12 K’s per game. Meanwhile, he only recorded just 14 walks all year. He finished with an OBA of .108 and an OBP of .191. Professional baseball is an entirely different animal than high school ball, but you don’t put up stats like that at any level if you don’t have the talent to play. 

In his analysis of the pick, The Athletic’s senior MLB writer Keith Law wrote, “As high school pitchers go, he’s got the best combination of present ability and future projection, with the typical risks of 18-year-olds and pitchers in general”. 

It is being said that, once developed, Caminiti could have an arsenal of four pitches. His fastball is already a mean one, touching 98 mph. He also holds a change up and two breaking balls, a curve and a slider. The breaking balls need some work on the command, but they are a deadly combination with his superior fastball.

Caminiti will likely have a similar first year to Thomasville’s Hurston Waldrep. He will probably get plenty of reps in the minors, though the Braves pitching needs may accelerate his trajectory. But, Caminiti joins a Braves pitching staff that is building a young core to pair with its veterans. Waldrop, Caminiti, and AJ Smith-Shawver have some serious potential as an MLB trio.