Ronit Shah on what Cam Caminiti, Carter Holton bring to the Braves

The Atlanta Braves began the 2024 MLB Draft by nabbing high-school lefty Cam Caminiti out of Saguaro High School in Arizona. Coming into the draft, the Braves had been connected to several different college players but jumped at the chance to draft Caminiti, who was projected to be off the board by the time the 24th pick rolled around.

“I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little kid. It’s incredible,” Caminiti told reporters via Zoom.

Braves Director of Amateur Scouting Ronit Shah said that the team has had their eyes on Caminiti for a while and they really liked the way that he grew as a pitcher this season.

“I think he grew a lot,” Shah said of Caminiti. “I think we’ve been there from start to finish the whole year and he definitely made a big jump. With each start, you could see it was just getting better and better. I think just control and command and also the stuff, just pulling it deeper into games.”

Caminiti was rated as the 13th best prospect by ESPN and was No. 15 for MLB Pipeline before the draft. The expectation by most outlets was that he would likely go in the first 20 picks. Caminiti said that he was unsure where he might land going into the draft, but he was happy to get taken by a good team like the Braves.

“Honestly, I didn’t know where I was going to go on the draft. I am pretty excited that I fell with such a great ball club,” Caminiti said. “They’re really good at developing left-handed pitchers. They’ve got two great left-handed pitchers in their rotation right now. They’re an exciting young baseball team, so I’m excited to head that way.”

It is unclear if the Braves really thought that he would be available to them at No. 24, but Shah said that they discussed a lot of possibilities and were excited to have him as an option.

“You just never know, and I think making sure you plan out all possible scenarios of who could fall, who could not,” Shah said. “I think you’d be a little surprised how different teams’ boards can vary team to team because we all have our own process. We have our own scouting staff. We have our own research and development. I think there’s a lot of variance versus something you’re just reading online.”

When asked about what Caminiti brings to the table, Shah cited a good work ethic and a big arm. He’s also just 17-years old and still has plenty of room to grow,

“He’s incredibly hardworking, super athletic.”

“He’s got a huge arm. You’ll see him sit mid 90s throughout the outing,” Shaw added. “I know when I saw him a couple times, he’d be gearing up for 96, 97 in the seventh inning of high school games, which is super impressive. I think the part that stands out the most to me though is how easy he does it, especially from the left side.”

Caminiti’s fastball has touched 98 mph which is impressive for a 17-year old, but he went into the season knowing that he needed to develop his secondary pitches to raise his stock. He noted the improvements he has made with his slider and has the confidence to throw it in any count.

“I think my slider. I have the best command with it,” he said. “I trust it the most, and I can throw it in any count that I want. 3-1, 3-2, 0-2, 3-0, throw it for a lot of strikes, just super confident.”

Anytime a high school player with a first round pedigree slips, there are concerns about his signability. Caminiti was committed to play for LSU next season. He said that he hasn’t really heard much from his advisors yet on a possible deal but did say that he expects to sign quickly.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, I still need to have a few more discussions with my advisor and my family and the team, so I haven’t heard much yet, but probably,” Caminiti said.

The expectation would be that Caminiti would need an overslot signing bonus, but Shah didn’t confirm that.

“I wouldn’t say that necessarily. I think in terms of mock drafts and all that, we’re not really reading all that,” Shah said. “I think at the end of the day, he got to our pick and we’re looking forward to getting him into the organization.”

The Braves used their second pick of Day 1 to select Vanderbilt lefty Carter Holton. Shah said that they liked how competitive Holton is on the mound and cited his good fastball and power slider.

“We love just how competitive he is on the mound. Absolute bulldog,” Shah said. “He’ll be 93-98 mph with the fastball. Show you a power slider. He can flip in a curve ball and he’s got an above average change up also. Just absolutely attacks the zone.

“e’s really athletic. We scouted him out of high school and had a lot of interest Coming out of high school, he was a two-way guy. He had some power at the plate. I think it just shows how athletic he is and how talented he is.”

The draft will continue Monday at 2 p.m. ET with rounds 3-10.