Major League Baseball’s 2025 draft is just over a month away. Will Clemson Tigers outfielder Cam Cannarella become the latest Clemson player taken in the first round?
Cannarella closed out his junior year with a strong finish, ending the season on a 22-game hitting streak. He batted .353 overall with five home runs and 22 doubles while posting an on-base percentage of .479. In three years under coach Erik Bakich, Cannarella hit .360 with 23 home runs, 54 doubles, nine triples and a combined 1.004 OPS.
And that’s only what Cannarella brought to the plate. With the glove, the Hartsville, South Carolina native made several breathtaking plays — none more jaw-dropping than his Willie Mays style catch in the Clemson Super Regional a year ago against the Florida Gators.
While the Tigers’ season didn’t end the way they wanted after a third straight home elimination in the NCAA Tournament, Cannarella did everything in his power to keep Clemson’s postseason hopes alive. In the three games at the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, he had eight hits in 14 at-bats with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs.
On Tuesday, USA TODAY Sports published its updated 2025 MLB mock draft. MLB draft analyst Gabe Lacques projects Cannarella as a late first-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles at No. 30 overall.
Lacques said of Cannarella:
“With his superior defensive ability, speed and extra-base pop, Cannarella fits the Orioles ethos, and a .453 career OBP doesn’t hurt.”
The 2025 MLB draft will be held over two days, July 13-14. The first round of the draft will be televised on ESPN, with subsequent rounds broadcast on MLB Network.
Clemson has had 20 players taken in the first round of an MLB draft dating back to 1968. Most recently, infielder Logan Davidson was selected 29th overall by the Athletics in 2019.
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