Clemson Baseball Star Among Top College MLB 2025 Prospects

The Clemson Tigers should have one of the top MLB prospects in college baseball back for the 2025 season.

Jun 2, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson sophomore Cam Cannarella (10) watches a ball go by him on a pitch from Coastal Carolina University during the bottom of the eighth inning of the NCAA baseball Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson. / Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 Major League Baseball draft is now in the rear-view mirror. While the Clemson Tigers didn’t have a first-round pick, they did have several players selected.

Next year could be a different story.

D1 Baseball posted its Top 100 college prospects shortly after the MLB Draft ended and a familiar name was in the Top 10 — outfielder Cam Cannarella.

Cannarella, a Hartsville, S.C. product, along with freshman right-handed pitcher Aidan Knaak were both invited to the USA Collegiate National Team training camp, which took place last month.

He was one of Clemson’s most productive players last season, as he batted .337 with 16 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, 60 RBI and 58 runs. He had a .417 on-base percentage in 58 games and battled an injury for much of the season. He also led the team with 29 multiple-hit games as he secured status as an All-American.

After the season, Cannarella disclosed that he played the vast majority of the season with a torn labrum he suffered in Clemson’s opening series against Presbyterian. He had surgery this week.

"It was more of an injury that affected him right away," he said, according to Derrian Carter of the Greenville News. "We limited his throwing, which is why he DH'd for a while, but there's another example of just Cam's character, who he is as a person to play through an injury all year."

In his two-year collegiate career, Cannarella is batting .363 with 32 doubles, six triples, 18 homers, 107 RBI, 130 runs, with a .440 on-base percentage and 24 steals in 117 games. As a junior next season, he will be draft-eligible.

The only college players listed ahead of Cannarella were Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette, UC Santa Barbara pitcher Tyler Bremmer, Florida State pitcher Jamie Arnold, Oklahoma State outfielder Nolan Schubart, South Carolina outfielder Ethan Petry and LSU pitcher Chase Shores.

Clemson went 44-16 last season, won the ACC’s Atlantic Division title and claimed the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also reached the Super Regionals for the first time since 2010.

That team produced five draft picks earlier this week.

Infielder Blake Wright went in the fourth round to the Colorado Rockies, while pitcher Austin Gordon also went in the fourth round to the Los Angeles Angels.

In the fifth round, outfielder Will Taylor went to the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitcher Tristan Smith went to the Cincinnati Reds. Clemson’s last selection was pitcher Rocco Reid, who went in the 15th round to the Arizona Diamondbacks.