- Slug: Sports–Caminiti MLB Draft. 790 words.
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By Dylan Slager
Cronkite News
SCOTTSDALE – Entering the 2024 MLB draft, Saguaro High School’s Cam Caminiti was a top name on the radar of many teams. The 17-year-old proved his dominance as a senior and earned the right to have his name called Sunday in the first round, where he was selected 24th overall by the Atlanta Braves.
“It’s an incredible organization and it feels so good to be here tonight,” Caminiti told ESPN after being selected. “It feels incredible. I was a little nervous at first but I’m just so excited to be on the next step in my journey and I couldn’t be more excited,”
Caminiti is the cousin of 1996 National League MVP Ken Caminiti. Ken, who died in 2004, played for the Braves in 2001 and finished his 14-year career with three consecutive Golden Gloves and three All-Star appearances.
Caminiti has made his presence known across the Arizona baseball scene with his incredible versatility on the mound and with a bat in his hands while living up to his family name in more ways than one. In 52 ⅔ innings pitched last season, Cam struck out 119 batters and held an ERA of 0.93. He went 9-0 in games pitched last season and led the Sabercats to their first state title in over 13 years.
He struck out 11 batters in the 4A championship against Canyon del Oro High School.
“Playing both sides is really versatile. It helps you get to the next level faster. If you’re better at one of the two, it gives you options to do more on the baseball field and that’s huge,” Caminiti said. “There are nine spots on a baseball field and if you can play five or six of them then you’re golden.”
Caminiti looks to utilize his dual-threat capabilities in Atlanta’s pitching development farm system. Not only is his pitching ability a bonus over most of the prospects in the draft, but his outfield play and hitting abilities have proved him to be versatile in every aspect of the game.
On the mound, Caminiti’s pitch selection is commanding with a fastball that ranges between 93-95 mph and has even reached 98 mph. His slider and curveball have immense range and spin, and he can hit strikes consistently from both. He added a changeup to his repertoire in his senior season that has made him one of the toughest young pitchers to face in the nation.
From the batter’s box, Caminiti had 69 at-bats and a .493 batting average. He proved to be a necessity in the lineup with 33 runs, 28 RBIs and three home runs through 29 games.
Posting his best career game against Deer Valley High School, Caminiti struck out the first 16 batters he faced through five innings. He opened the game with an immaculate inning, and recorded a four-strikeout inning two frames later. Since 1888, only two MLB pitchers have accomplished those feats in the same season.
Caminiti did it in one game at the high school level.
“I was as surprised and overwhelmed as anyone was. You don’t go to many games where the pitcher even strikes out 16 batters in a row and holds a no-hitter,” said Caminiti’s father, Dom. “I was very surprised.”
Caminiti’s progression has been rapid. He wasn’t expected to be eligible for this year’s draft class, but early graduation and reclassification appealed to him in June 2023 after meeting with scouts.
“In early summer of 2023, Cam played in a club tournament where he threw a no-hitter and struck out 13. There were scouts there, and they were actually the first ones to ask if he was going to class-up,” Dom said. “We were already thinking about it, but the scouts asking helped Cam realize that he really had a chance to do this.”
The stars aligned, allowing Caminiti to graduate early.
“Saguaro really helped me get all the right classes into a schedule that fit and helped me fulfill that dream of classing up,” Caminiti said. “Just getting to play better competition sooner and limiting the chance for injury during the high school season.”
Caminiti is the first Arizona high school pitcher drafted since the Tampa Bay Rays took Matthew Liberatore in 2018 with the 16th overall pick out of Mountain Ridge High School. Liberatore is currently a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation and is 2-2 so far during the 2024 season.
Caminiti has options now with Sunday’s selection and a commitment to Louisiana State University. However, with the Braves’ farm system’s impressive pitching development, there is no telling where he may end up.
“I’m super excited,” Caminiti said about his future. “But I’m going to be excited wherever I get chosen to go and whether it’s the MLB or LSU, it’s gonna be a great opportunity for me.”
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