Johan Valentín Camargo Ramos (born December 13, 1993) is a Panamanian professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

in the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

organization. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Early life

Johan Camargo was born in

Panama City, Panama Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. His parents named him after the footballer

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

. When playing baseball as a child, Camargo naturally batted and threw left-handed. His father taught him to throw with his right hand, and Camargo stopped using his left hand for that skill. He later focused on switch-hitting, and joined his first organized baseball league at the age of 13.

Career

Minor leagues

Camargo signed with the

for $42,000 as a 16-year old out of Panama in July 2010. After missing the 2011 season, Camargo made his professional debut in 2012 with the DSL Braves. Camargo spent 2013 with Rookie level Danville, and hit .294 in 57 games. Camargo began 2014 at Single-A

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

before earning a late season promotion to High-A Lynchburg. Across both levels in 2014, he hit .266 with 46 RBI in 132 games. Camargo spent 2015 with High-A Carolina, hitting .258 with 32 RBI in 130 games. After earning All-Star honors in the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, Camargo was awarded with a spot in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

with Peoria. Almost exclusively a shortstop, Camargo began 2016 playing at second base for Double-A

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

to accommodate the likes of

Ozzie Albies Ozhaino Jurdy Jiandro "Ozzie" Albies (born January 7, 1997) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball second baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Albies signed with the Braves organization in 2013, and made his MLB debut wi ...

and

Dansby Swanson James Dansby Swanson (born February 11, 1994) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him firs ...

. When all three were on the team, Camargo played third base, and after Swanson was promoted to the major leagues, he took over at shortstop. At the plate, Camargo hit .267 with a career-high 4 HR, along with 43 RBI in 126 games. The Braves added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

Atlanta Braves

After missing out on the Opening Day roster, Camargo was quickly recalled from Triple-A

Gwinnett Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton ...

on April 11, 2017, and made his debut that night. After two short-lived stints in the major leagues, Camargo's playing time increased in the month of June when third baseman

Adonis García Adonis García Arrieta (born April 12, 1985) is a Cuban former professional baseball third baseman. He played in the Cuban National Series from 2004 through 2011, and then defected from Cuba to play for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseb ...

was placed on the disabled list. Camargo hit his first career home run on July 9, against

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

pitcher

Matt Grace Matthew Aaron Grace (born December 14, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks. Career Amateur career Grace graduated fr ...

. After Adonis Garcia returned from the disabled list at third base, Camargo lost playing time; however, he quickly gained it back when the Braves benched

who eventually was demoted to Triple A. Camargo was injured in August, and remained with the

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

until September, resulting in the return of Swanson. Camargo became the Braves' starting third baseman in May 2018, and retained the role until the start of the 2019 season, when the team signed

Josh Donaldson Joshua Adam Donaldson (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Atla ...

. Following an injury to starting shortstop Dansby Swanson, Camargo played at that position, struggling defensively and offensively. As a result, Camargo was demoted to the

Gwinnett Stripers The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

on August 16. Camargo returned to the major leagues when rosters expanded in September. In a game against the

on September 11, he suffered a hairline fracture in his right shin. The Braves subsequently placed Camargo on the 10-day injured list. In 2019, he batted .233/.279/.384 with 31 runs, 7 home runs, and 32 RBIs, and had the slowest sprint speed of all major league shortstops, at 25.6 feet/second. In 2020, he batted .200/.244/.367 with 16 runs, 4 home runs, and 9 RBIs. He played 21 games at second base, and 10 at third base, but did not play at all at shortstop for the first season of his major league career. After the 2020 season, he played for

Águilas Cibaeñas The Águilas Cibaeñas (English lit. ''Cibaoan Eagles'') is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Republic's Dominican Professional Baseball League, winter baseball league. Founded on January 28, and based in Santiago de los Caballeros, S ...

of the

Dominican Professional Baseball League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Dom ...

(LIDOM). He has also played for Dominican Republic in the

2021 Caribbean Series The 2021 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the 63rd edition of the international competition featuring the champions of the Colombian Professional Baseball League, Dominican Professional Baseball League, Mexican Pacific League, Panamanian ...

. Camargo played the majority of the 2021 season with the

, where he learned to play first base, had 16 hitless at bats with the Braves in the majors, and was named to the Braves' roster for the National League Championship Series, replacing

Terrance Gore Terrance Jamar Gore (born June 8, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He played college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College. He made his MLB debut in 2014 with the Kansas City Royals and has also played ...

. Gore returned to the Braves' roster for the World Series, in place of Camargo. The Braves eventually won the 2021 World Series, giving the Braves their first title since 1995. On November 30, 2021, it was announced that the Braves would not tender a contract to Camargo for the 2022 season, making him a free agent.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 1, 2021, Camargo signed a one-year contract with the

. Camargo appeared in 52 games for Philadelphia in 2022, slashing .237/.297/.316 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. He was designated for assignment on September 25, 2022.

Kansas City Royals

On January 21, 2023, Camargo signed a minor league contract with the

organization.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camargo, Johan 1993 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Atlanta Braves players Carolina Mudcats players Danville Braves players Dominican Summer League Braves players Gwinnett Braves players Gwinnett Stripers players Lynchburg Hillcats players Major League Baseball players from Panama Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Mississippi Braves players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States Peoria Javelinas players Philadelphia Phillies players Rome Braves players Sportspeople from Panama City