By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer
Wanna feel old?
Cam Collier, a 17-year-old third baseman and likely top-10 pick in Sunday’s MLB Draft, was born on Nov. 20, 2004, three weeks after the Boston Red Sox broke the curse. In other words: By the time Collier entered this world, Albert Pujols had already blasted 160 career home runs.
Most ballplayers take one of two main paths to the pros: They get drafted after either their senior year of high school or their junior year of college. Collier is a remarkable, incredibly rare exception.
Following an outstanding 2021 state-title-winning sophomore season at Mount Paran Christian High School outside of Atlanta, Collier graduated early and enrolled at 17 at Chipola Junior College in Florida.
This spring at Chipola — one of the country’s best JUCO baseball programs — Collier was absolutely dynamite, hitting .333 in 52 games with eight homers. Then, to further increase his draft stock, he challenged himself again with a brief but successful stint in the Cape Cod League, the nation’s premier college summer league, against pitchers five years older.
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The only other player in recent memory to opt for such an ambitious pre-draft path was Bryce Harper, the most-hyped amateur baseball player of all time.
"It was an idea my dad had after my freshman year," Collier told FOX Sports over the phone. "We saw what I could do. And when comparing me to the guys that were gonna be in my draft, we just felt like I was ready for that leap."
It turns out that Cam and his dad, Lou, who bounced around as a big-league utilityman for eight seasons, were right. Some mock drafts have Collier going as high as fourth to the Pirates, and many others have real buzz between him and the Cubs at No. 7 overall. Between Chipola and the Cape, Collier solidified himself as a no-doubt top-10 pick.
Most teenagers wouldn’t have the talent, the maturity or the poise to succeed against players so much older than them, but for Collier had been playing up his entire childhood. He was always the 10-year-old on the 12U team and then the 12-year-old on the 14U team, and he believes those experiences enabled him to develop an understanding of how to deal with the struggles and pressures that come with being an elite ballplayer.
"Playing up, you're always going to struggle," he said. "So learning how to deal with that struggle and learning how to bounce back from it, that was what I learned the most from playing up all these years."
If that sounds more like a quote from an MLB veteran than a 17-year-old kid, well, yes. Thanks in part to his dad’s big-league time and in part to his own maturity, Collier moves, speaks, works and prepares like someone well beyond his years.
He credits his dad for teaching him how to prepare like a professional and admits that gave him a huge advantage, compared to other young players.
"I have a lot of information that other guys don't have," he said. "I was fortunate to have a professional coach at all my games and at home growing up."
Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell also attended Mount Paran Christian School, a few years before Collier enrolled. Trammell remembers the first time he heard about Cam. In the winter of 2019, Trammell got a phone call from his former coach at Mount Paran, Kyle Reese, about a freshman on the baseball team.
"He was like, ‘Yeah, this kid just came to the school, and he’s pretty good,’" Trammell remembered. "He wanted me to come out during the offseason and chat with him and be a resource for him because I was in the minors."
Trammell obliged but didn’t fully anticipate just how good Collier would be. Pro players, especially while in the minors, come back to help at their high schools all the time, and coaches are always hyping up the current crop of players.
"I remember seeing him, and he didn’t look like a freshman. He was huge," Trammell said. "And then I saw him swing, and I was like, ‘Ohhhhhhhhh.’ I knew then that kid would be awesome."
Trammell and Collier have stayed in touch since, working out together alongside Braves outfielder and fellow Atlanta native Michael Harris II during the 2020 shutdown. It was then that Collier began preparing to accelerate his professional baseball timeline by leaving Mount Paran early.
"He would have set records," Trammell said. "But he definitely needed to be challenged a little bit more. Still, it’s impressive how good he was at [Chipola], how much he was able to keep his composure when he had some struggles. That kid is so assured of himself. He just ... he’s just a homie, man."
When Mount Paran made a run to the state championship this year, Collier cheered on his former teammates from the dugout.
"I loved that move," Trammell said. "If I was a front office person, that tells me he’s a good kid and doesn’t carry himself like he’s better than everybody. He doesn’t care about the clout, he just loves ball, and he’s good at it, too."
In fact, Collier was so precocious and so immensely talented at such a young age that a career other than "baseball player" never even entered his mind. That he grew up around the game — his dad retired before he was born but spent a ton of time at big-league parks — certainly helped.
"I never wanted to do anything else," Collier admitted. "From a young age, I always wanted to be the best I could at baseball. Nothing besides that. That was my whole mindset. I really never thought about becoming anything else."
In many ways, Cam has been living the life of a professional player for years now. Most of his childhood was spent thinking about the game, working on the game, playing the game. That’s a lifestyle not all kids have access to, and it’s an opportunity Collier doesn’t take for granted and has taken full advantage of.
His maturity, mentality and willingness to challenge himself at all stops along the way are what allowed him to take such a unique journey to pro baseball. And more likely than not, those same traits will one day lead to a long and successful big-league career.
Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.
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