Cam Caminiti's Pro Debut Plus Other Live Looks

Chris breaks down looks from the Augusta/Columbia series.

Hello everyone, I am very sad to report that this is the final week of both Single-A and High-A regular season. Playoffs will run into the second week of September and we have a staggered finish with Double-A and Triple-A both finishing a week after the other.

This week, I will be getting looks at Hagen Smith, Aidan Smith, Theo Gillen, Trevor Harrison, and other top prospects to finish out my regular season of live looks. No worries, though, The Dynasty Dugout will have you covered with over 20 live Arizona Fall League games!

Enough rambling, let’s get to Cam Caminiti plus others who caught my eye this weekend in Augusta.

Augusta Greenjackets and Columbia Fireflies Live Looks

Cam Caminiti, LHP, ATL, 18, A

Caminiti made his pro debut last Saturday, making him the first prep pitcher to debut from the 2024 draft class. It surprised some that he fell to the Braves at 24th overall, especially considering the buzz near the top 12 range.

Being young for the class Caminiti was 17 years old on draft day as he reclassified from the 2025 class, but just turned 18 on August 8. Dominating the prep showcase circuit and high school hitters, Caminiti ended the 2024 season, pitching 52.2 innings with 119 strikeouts and just 14 walks. The ERA sat at just 0.93.

Jumping from high school ball to facing Single-A hitters is no easy task, but the Braves were confident that Caminiti was up to the test. Coming into the draft with a four-pitch mix that included a fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball. At this particular start, Caminiti was fastball-heavy.

In the first inning, you could tell he came out amped. Caminiti touched 96 but was routinely sitting in the 93-95 range early. Toward the end of the start, Caminiti was sitting closer to 93, which is still impressive considering he is a young 18 years old and has had such a long layoff between starts.

By my tally, 19 of his first 22 pitches were fastballs. The pitch shows around average IVB from a 5’8” release height and has good horizontal movement.

Caminiti first featured his slider to top 100 Blake Mitchell, whom he got his first professional strikeout on. After getting a called strike on a fastball on the outer half, Caminiti proceeded to bury a beautiful sweepy slider down and away and got a whiff. Strike three came on a front door slider that Mitchell was completely fooled on to freeze him for a called strike three.

The new look slider is a pitch that Caminiti worked on this spring. It has long horizontal movement, registering 15 inches of sweep consistently. The shape was inconsistent some during the start, with some having more depth and others more carry. It is highly possible it was the curve blending into the slider, but his slowest breaking ball thrown was 79 mph, after seeing his curveball sit in the low-to-mid 70s this spring.

After going back and reviewing my film and notes, Caminiti did throw one changeup, an 86 mph hanger that he left up to Austin Charles, who smacked it up the middle for a hustle double. In the past, the changeup has been Caminiti’s best secondary offering.

From a mechanical standpoint, Caminiti repeated very well considering he just turned 18 years old. He is a good mover who shows good athleticism on the mound. It is a loose arm action that is quite smooth. The biggest question some have is that Caminiti is a natural pronator which can make it harder to spin the ball, but the movement profile on the slider he threw was pretty good.

The development path here will be fun the follow. The Braves have often “stripped” pitches away from pitchers they draft to solely focus on two before integrating them back in. It happened with AJ Smith-Shawver who entered his pro career with four pitches and the org decided to focus on developing the fastball and slider before integrating his curve and changeup back in more. That could be the case for a young Caminiti.

There is a chance we could be looking at four above-average offerings when all is said and done. There is some projection on the frame, and it would not be shocking to see him tick up and sit around 95-96 consistently. With the right shape, the fastball can be a good pitch to set up the rest of the arsenal.

Getting a consistent breaking ball or even two in the slider and curve will be a big piece of Caminiti hitting his upside. We could be looking at a mid-rotation starter, but it is still very early in his development to project that.

Logan Martin, RHP, KC, 23, A

Martin was fantastic in his start on Saturday, tossing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He issued just two walks and allowed two hits, both of which came in the fifth inning. The 2023 12th-rounder has spent his entire season in Columbia and put up good results, having a 3.88 ERA and a 3.54 FIP across 95 innings.

Martin worked a mid-90s fastball that showed a lot of run plus good carry, setting up a solid changeup and slider. In the start against Caminiti, Martin generated 14 whiffs and posted a strong 34 percent CSW. Most of his whiffs came on his low-80s slider, which showed good sweeping action. He threw it to both righties and lefties, dropping it to the back foot of lefties while running it away from righties.

The changeup played really well, sitting 84-86 with very late depth and fade, keeping hitters on their toes. Martin repeated his mechanics consistently and did not show high effort even when getting to 96 mph.

Considering he just turned 23, we do want to see how he performs moving up to High-A, which is much deserved at this point. But there is stuff here, and Martin has strong command, maybe even plus. Keep an eye on him; I am really intrigued by what I have seen this year.

Luis Guanipa, OF, ATL, 18, A

After missing the first month of the 2024 complex season due to a hamstring strain, the Braves’ top 2023 international signing showed some strong things at the plate for 20 complex games while playing an exceptional centerfield. The former $2.5 million bonus shows the kind of pedigree here and how highly the Braves think of him.

At present, Guanipa is a plus runner and maybe even closer to a 70 grade. He gets great jumps in the outfield and reads the ball off the bat exceptionally well. There is a strong chance Guanipa could stick in centerfield in the long term.

Guanipa does have a smaller frame, standing at 5’10”/175, but he does generate good torque in his swing to help generate some power. From behind the plate, the setup is very reminiscent of Ronald Acuña Jr. with a slightly closed stance and his hands in a similar setup position. He does have a small load that gets more to the toe tap with two strikes. He showed a good feel for barrel control and waiting back on a breaking ball with two strikes, sending it out to center field for a flyout. You can see that in the second swing below.

Guanipa is a young player with plenty of upside. His performance in Single-A has not been great, but again, we are talking about an 18-year-old who had 20 games under his belt stateside before being sent to Augusta. It may take time, but there are certainly skills to like here.

Callan Moss, 1B, KC, 21, A

This is my favorite kind of story. Moss was an undrafted free agent out of St. Leo college, a Division 2 school in the Sunshine State Conference. Moss posted a strong season there, slashing .360./.473/.634 with nine home runs and 25 extra base hits. He also walked more than he struck out. Moss then went on to play in the Appalachian League this summer, where he was the league’s MVP while playing with the Danville Otterbots.

In 33 games with Danville, Moss posted an impressive .371/.531/.724 slash with eight home runs and 20 extra base hits. Not only was the performance good, but so was his underlying data with wood bats. Moss ranked first in the league with an average exit velocity of 92.8 mph. He also topped out in hard-hit rate at a strong 44.8 percent and a guady 24.1 percent barrel rate.

Moss has stepped right into pro ball and hit. He has shown a good feel for pitch recognition, walking more than he has struck out, which has been a theme his entire career. He also has a strong contact rate of 77 percent in 15 games with Columbia. Moss has two home runs and a .326/.473/.465 slash to this point.

He has a strong frame, standing at 6’3”/225, and he certainly has the physical appearance when you see him. Moss just turned 21 years old, and I think there is some intrigue here with his bat. Keep a close eye on Moss.