MLB: Draft

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, takes a photo with Cam Caminiti after Caminiti was drafted by the Atlanta Braves at Cowtown Coliseum on Sunday.

The Atlanta Braves added to their young core of pitching talent Sunday when they selected high-schooler Cam Caminiti in the first round of the MLB Draft.

Caminiti went 24th overall to the Braves, who picked up a high-value player that MLB.com ranked as the No. 15 available prospect. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound left-hander from Saguaro (Ariz) High is the cousin of former National League MVP Ken Caminiti.

“I know they’re a great organization and they win a lot of games,” Caminiti told MLB.com. “They’ve got a lot of great young talent. I’m excited to be a Brave.”

Caminiti is one of the youngest prospects in the draft — he won’t turn 18 until Aug. 8 — after reclassifying from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2024. He is an LSU commitment.

As a pitcher, he throws four quality pitches and touches 98 mph on a fastball that sits in the 93 to 95 range. He also was a prospect as a hitter and was athletic enough to play center field when he wasn’t on the mound.

“[Caminiti] has got a huge arm,” Braves scouting director Ronit Shah told MLB.com. “You’ll see him sit mid-90s, and I’ve seen him gear up to throw 96 or 97 at the end of a high school game, which is super impressive. I think what impresses me most is how easy he does it.”

Atlanta used its second-round pick Sunday on another left-handed pitcher, Vanderbilt junior Carter Holton. The 5-foot-11, 191-pounder played high school baseball in Georgia at Benedictine before three productive seasons at Vanderbilt, where he relied on a four-pitch arsenal as a starting pitcher.

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