Braves Select Lefty Cam Caminiti 24th Overall

Atlanta Braves draft a left-handed high school pitcher who is knocking on the door of 100 MPH.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred takes a photo with Cam Caminiti after he is drafted by the Atlanta Braves / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With the 24th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the Atlanta Braves selected left-handed pitcher Cam Caminiti out of Saguaro High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 

Welcome to #BravesCountry, Cam!@CamCaminiti pic.twitter.com/XJbYiMqmPe

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 15, 2024

Caminiti was ranked the 15th-best amateur prospect on MLB.com and the second-best left-handed pitcher - behind Florida’s two-way player Jac Caglianone (who will play first base) and Arkansas’s Hagen Smith. Caminiti is also the third-best high school prospect. 

Perfect Game ranked him the top player from Arizona and the top lefty in the country. They also ranked him the fourth-best player overall. 

Caminiti was committed to LSU before being selected in the draft. He reclassified to the class of 2024 after being behind a year. He turns 18 next month. 

If the last name sounds familiar, he’s the cousin of the late 1996 National League MVP Ken Caminiti. The family legacy in professional baseball continues. Caminiti finished his 15-year career in Atlanta in 2001.

During his senior year at Saguaro, Caminiti went 9-0 with a 0.93 ERA, striking out 119 batters in 52 2/3 innings. He also had a strong performance at the plate, hitting .493.

He was a key force in his high school team winning the state championship for the first time in 13 years. Caminiti struck 11 batters en route to a two-hitter in the championship game. 

Cam Caminiti struck 11, gave up just 2 hits in Saguaro's 2-1 4A state championship win over Canyon del Oro to close the book on his high school career.
Next up: the MLB draft pic.twitter.com/JSfK3QU0oI

— Richard Obert (@azc_obert) May 14, 2024

According to MLB dot com, the 17-year-old pitcher already tops out at 98 mph. Another major highlight of his came when he struck out 16 consecutive batters back in March. 

While the Braves have a plethora of pitchers in their top-30 prospects, they only have two lefties, 14th-ranked prospect Dylan Dodd and 19th-ranked prospect Luis De Avila. In comparison, they have 15 righties. 

While going after a position player would have made sense too, they definitely needed another lefty, and they grabbed one of the top options on the board.