This past week, I took in a couple of High-A games between Rome (Atlanta organization) and Jersey Shore (Philadelphia) that featured Atlanta’s 2024 first-round pick Cam Caminiti as a starter for Rome. Below are scouting thoughts on Caminiti and other notable prospects from that series, as well as scouting notes on several top prospects I’ve seen over the past few weeks.
(Note: Scouting grades are on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale.)
Caminiti was the first high school pitcher taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, and he’s emerged as Atlanta’s best prospect over his year and a half in their system. On Sunday, the left-hander got the start against Jersey Shore and showed two above-average pitches and excellent control, but didn’t have an average breaking ball in his six-inning outing.
Caminiti was 92-95 for most of his start, dipping to 90-93 in his last inning, with above-average control. He showed an easy plus changeup that was mostly 84-87 with deception and good fade. He didn’t walk anyone until the sixth, then walked two and hit a guy to start that inning, getting out of it with a strikeout and a double play. For five innings, he was really cruising; Jersey Shore’s lineup isn’t strong, and they could barely touch him.
His breaking ball wasn’t great — probably a 45 overall, average at its best, with decent shape but not a lot of tightness or overall deception to it. I’ve had multiple scouts tell me they’ve seen a 55 slider from Caminiti, so maybe I got an off day. He was supposed to throw on Saturday, but that game was canceled because of a major power outage in south Jersey, so he was a day off, and it was a pretty hot, humid afternoon. I doubt that’s the reason, but it wasn’t ideal.
It may be time for him to try another breaking ball shape, as he’s in a good spot to throw a cutter, at least. There’s a no-doubt starter in here — above-average fastball, plus changeup, throws strikes, and enough breaking ball that is at least a fourth starter. The entire package is not that far off from Michael Wacha, but I’d like to see him try to find a better third pitch before he gets to the majors (or even Triple A).
Southisene still dealing with holes in his swing
Atlanta took shortstop Tate Southisene with their first-round pick last year, a reach relative to where I had Southisene on my pre-draft rankings (in third-round range). His pro debut last year was a disaster — he struck out 27 times in 66 plate appearances, with one (1) walk and a .219/.242/.297 line. That’s a small sample, however, and he was an 18-year-old in Low A, so it didn’t seem like much to worry about. He started back at the same level this year and was walking a ton, posting a .297/.429/.500 line in 240 plate appearances with a 15.4 percent walk rate. He was promoted to the Rome Emperors in early June.
I saw Southisene before the draft and saw nine more plate appearances in the Jersey Shore series, and I don’t think he’s changed at all since high school. He’s still struggling with any kind of fastball up, even at 91-92, and anything up and in is kryptonite to him. He had one hit, a double in his first at-bat on a badly hanging slider, and after that it was a lot of whiff and weak contact.
He also is clearly not a shortstop, with neither the footwork nor the arm strength to stick there. He did draw a walk in the last game of the series, and overall he doesn’t chase stuff well out of the zone. That approach can buy a young hitter time to develop in other areas, but he has to figure out how to close off his many holes to have something other than a high walk rate. I don’t see an everyday player here.
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Eric Hartman a strong late-round find
Eric Hartman was Atlanta’s 2024 20th-round pick out of Okotoks, Alberta, just outside of Calgary, which is not exactly a hotbed of young baseball talent. Credit to Atlanta’s scouting group, however, as Hartman looks like at least an everyday center fielder, maybe more depending on whether his power surge is real or a product of some good home parks and the South Atlantic League’s juiced ball this year.
Hartman is second in the league with 20 homers, and he’s second — behind John Gil — with 31 stolen bases. The speed is real, and he covers a lot of ground in center. The power might not be, at least not to that extent, just based on the body and swing. I got an 0 for 5 from him across two games with two walks and two HBP. He has good bat speed but not elite, and he doesn’t get a ton from his lower half. He does whiff a little more than I’d like, especially on fastballs.
I do think he’s an everyday player, and even if the power isn’t real right now, he only turned 20 in mid-June, so he has some time to get stronger and maybe get his hips and legs more involved to drive the ball more.
Owen Carey and John Gil show promise
Outfielder Owen Carey was Atlanta’s 2024 15th-round pick, taken out of a New Hampshire high school (by an area scout that Atlanta let go a few weeks later, thanks for everything). Carey missed over a month this year because of a heel injury, but he’s back, and looks stronger than he did last year. He has good bat speed, with enough pitch recognition to see a path for him to be at least an extra outfielder. He’s hitting .266/.336/.468 through 33 games, again perhaps getting a boost from the league in power — he homered to dead center on a 93-mph fastball at Lakewood (not a strong hitter’s park).
Shortstop John Gil has a lot of ability — he probably has the best total package of tools of the Rome quartet mentioned here — but probably the least feel for the game. He’s very physical for 5-foot-11-ish and an above-average or better runner underway (but not out of the box). He has bat speed and seems to pick up fastballs. It’s all the secondary stuff that’s lacking — he doesn’t have great instincts in the field, he doesn’t seem to pick up spin, and he didn’t run out a ground ball to third, which in A-ball is hardly a sure out. He could end up the best player this lineup given some time and repetitions, but he has a ways to go in converting his athleticism into baseball value.
Scouting Orioles prospect JT Quinn
Baltimore took right-hander JT Quinn in the second round last year, 11 picks after they selected Joseph Dzierwa, making the pair the two highest-drafted pitchers of the Mike Elias era. Dzierwa is already in Double A after a dominant start to the year in High-A Frederick, while Quinn is still, as of this writing, in High A, but pitching extremely well.
JT Quinn pitched collegiately at Georgia. (Gary Cosby Jr. / USA Today via Imagn Images)
I caught Quinn at Wilmington a few weeks ago, where he was 93-98 with two above-average breaking balls in his mid-80s slider and mid-70s curveball. He varies the shape and angle of the slider, while the curveball is very sharp if a little slow by the radar gun. He does throw a changeup at 88-91, but it’s more like a mediocre two-seamer.
His arm is really fast, and he went right after the Blue Rocks hitters, going 6 2/3 scoreless innings on 74 pitches. (He left with Frederick up 5-0; Wilmington walked it off in 13 innings, 9-8.) Quinn is going to need something better for lefties. His platoon split right now is small, but he’s getting away with working out of the zone to them and that’s not going to last at higher levels. Otherwise it’s mid-rotation starter all the way.
Notes on 2025 draft picks Eli Willits, Anthony Eyanson and Mitch Voit
I’ve seen Eli Willits a few times now for Wilmington, and the 2025 No. 1 pick is, in fact, very, very good. He’s clearly stronger than he was last year — he looks 10-15 pounds bigger — and also has shown a much better approach at the plate than I think anyone expected. I haven’t seen any of the six homers he’s hit in 20 games in High A, but I’ve seen hard contact the other way. He’s also easily a 70 defender at short.
I caught Boston right-hander Anthony Eyanson’s worst start of the year on June 9; it was bad enough that they pushed him back from Tuesday to Sunday in the following series. The 2025 third-round pick had been up to 99 this season, but on this particular Tuesday night at Double-A Reading, he was 90-94 and had real trouble throwing strikes, ending the night with five walks in 2 2/3 innings.
He hasn’t walked more than three in any other start this year, and has five walks total since I saw him across 14 2/3 innings. The curveball was his best pitch, 78-79, sharp, nearly 12/6, and also the pitch he could most easily throw for a strike that night. He’s pitched three times since that outing, with much better results, although he’s still more low- to mid-90s than high-90s.
I saw Mets prospect Mitch Voit play one game at Wilmington. New York’s first selection (38th pick) last year is hitting just .245/.351/.412 in High A, which is surprising given what I saw of him. His BABIP is very low, at .262, but he’s not making a ton of weak contact or hitting it on the ground excessively. He gets good rotation in his swing and finishes with plenty of loft. His performance has been trending up, and I think that uptick will continue.