Junior's ascent: Caminero ready for spotlight as MLB's top prospect

This story was originally published on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays were getting their work in on the field at Rogers Centre in Toronto last Sept. 30, preparing for the penultimate game of the regular season, their postseason future already secure and nothing particularly meaningful on the line in the hours ahead.

It was a batting practice session like any other.

Then Junior Caminero stepped into the cage.

Only 20 years old and just a week into a Major League career that began earlier than anyone anticipated, the Tampa Bay Rays’ top prospect sent one ball after another soaring over the fence. Later acknowledging he likes to take one round of BP “just to kind of show off a little,” Caminero crushed two off the light blue facing in front of the upper deck in left field.

Caminero stepped out of the cage, then something strange happened -- something that made it clear this was no ordinary round of batting practice, he no ordinary hitter.

Lined up around the backstop, fans who were granted early field access cheered. So did many others already in their seats. Rays manager Kevin Cash would later say he’d never seen someone get a standing ovation in batting practice, much less a visiting player. Neither had hitting coach Chad Mottola, who is nearing the end of his 33rd season in professional baseball.

"Just that electric,” Mottola said of Caminero. “I don't know if I've seen somebody hit the ball consistently as hard as he does."

That is Caminero’s calling card, the special skill that made him MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect upon the graduation of Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday. Caminero's incredible raw power carried him through the Minors and back to the Majors with Tampa Bay this season. It’s the product of his elite bat speed, a trait that Mottola attributes to Caminero’s quick hands and natural, innate ability.

"It’s something that some people have built in,” Mottola said. “Some guys are blessed."

And what does Caminero make of the talent that allows him to hit baseballs harder than all but a select few?

"I think that’s just a gift from God,” he said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “I think everyone in this world has a gift from God, and I think that’s what he gave me."

CALL HIM JUNIOR
Growing up in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, Junior Alberto Caminero Sanchez figured he was destined to play baseball.

"My mom would ask for the remote control for the TV,” Caminero said last weekend, sitting alongside Navarro in the visitors’ dugout at Dodger Stadium, “and I would throw it at her."

Caminero grew up going to games at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, home of the Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League. His family still lives less than 10 minutes away from the ballpark, which he visited with the Rays and Red Sox for MLB’s Dominican Republic Series in March.

His father was a truck driver and his mother worked in physical therapy, he said, but they were always around baseball. He started playing when he was 5 years old and came to appreciate it even more a few years later.

"I’ve always loved the game,” he said. “When I started watching Major League games, that’s when I became a big fan."

How big of a fan? Well, when his parents welcomed another boy into the family about nine years after Caminero was born, he suggested a name: Girardi. Yes, as in Joe Girardi, then the manager of the New York Yankees.

They took his suggestion.

"Of course,” Caminero said, smiling. “I told them to."

Initially, Caminero’s favorite player was Alex Rodriguez. He soon came to idolize another third baseman wearing No. 13, perhaps foreshadowing his own future: Manny Machado.

In 2014, Caminero traveled to the United States with a youth league team to play in an international tournament featuring American and Japanese teams. The trip included a stop at Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a game, with passes to watch batting practice on the field.

There, a young Caminero asked Machado for a picture. Years later, when he had established himself as a legitimate prospect, Caminero sent it to Machado in a direct message on Instagram.

"Time flies. Now, he's in the big leagues,” Machado told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. “Dude, we play this game for that right there. We want to impact different kids. We want to impact every person we can. We're blessed with the opportunity. So, whenever you can do that and now see it firsthand, it doesn't get better than that. … I'm just so grateful for the opportunity to see him grow, seeing him be who he is.”

Caminero still has the photo saved on his phone. He hoped to ask Machado to swap jerseys -- and recreate that memory -- when the Padres visited Tropicana Field.

"I’m going to give him a hug,” Caminero said. “And I’m going to say, ‘Hey, we’re both here now.’"

LATE BLOOMER, QUICK MOVER
Caminero also played basketball as a kid, but his mother told him to stop when he turned 16 years old -- and with good reason. He had just become a professional baseball player, and she didn’t want him to get hurt.

Signed by Cleveland scout Amiro Santana, Caminero received a $87,500 bonus -- nowhere in the vicinity of what top international prospects receive.

He had a projectable frame and obvious talent, but he wasn’t always bigger and stronger than his peers, the way he now appears. (The Rays’ preseason media guide profiled him at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. He is still occasionally listed, amusingly, at 157 pounds.) Caminero said he only started to fill out during the pandemic.

"I was actually a late bloomer,” Caminero said. “Without us playing, that’s when I focused more on getting stronger and working out and that’s when I grew a little bit more."

Caminero’s full potential was on display when he debuted in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League in 2021, hitting .295/.380/.534 with nine homers in 43 games. His performance caught the attention of the Rays, who heavily scout the backfields of the complex leagues as part of their no-stone-unturned approach to player evaluation and acquisition.

Tampa Bay’s scouts were impressed with Caminero’s unique offensive skillset at a young age. He took quality at-bats and made good decisions at the plate. He swung hard and, obviously, hit the ball hard.

"It was just a different sound coming off of his bat,” Rays assistant general manager Kevin Ibach said. “When you have someone that showed the offensive traits that Junior did and you have the support of a deeper scouting staff that covers that league tremendously, it makes you feel comfortable. Let’s take a shot and see what happens.”

The opportunity presented itself that November. Facing a 40-man roster crunch ahead of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, the Rays fielded offers for Tobias Myers, a starting pitcher coming off a solid season in the upper Minors, four years after they acquired him from the Orioles for former top pick Tim Beckham.

The Guardians were interested, and it quickly became evident they could get a deal done. The Rays asked for Caminero, then an unranked prospect. Myers never reached the Majors in Cleveland, although he’s now a key starter for Milwaukee, while Caminero quickly rocketed up the prospect lists, from No. 30 in the Rays’ system entering 2022 to No. 5 heading into ’23.

"I’d love to sit here and tell you that we knew that he would evolve to become the best prospect in baseball. I think that would be foolish to say,” Ibach said. “Since we acquired him, the trajectory and how quickly he’s ascended through the system has surprised a lot of people.”

Caminero moved quickly and put it all together last year, reaching Double-A Montgomery at 19 years old and hitting a combined .324/.384/.591 with 31 homers in 117 games. That production made him realize he had a real chance to eventually play in the big leagues, but when the Biscuits’ season ended in September, he figured it was time to head home to Santo Domingo.

Instead, the 20-year-old who calls himself “La Maxima” was summoned to help the injury-depleted Rays down the stretch of a 99-win season.

When Caminero arrived at Tropicana Field, he found a No. 1 Rays jersey in his locker. His No. 13 was taken at the time by Manuel Margot, but that number still made sense to him.

"Because I was the No. 1 prospect,” he said, smiling.

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
Caminero played sparingly during his first taste of the Majors, although he hit his first homer and got into both of the Rays’ postseason games last October. He had designs on a quick return, only to be optioned to Triple-A Durham and delayed by a pair of left quad strains.

He tried to make the most of the setbacks, focusing on his physical conditioning and serving as something of a mentor to the less experienced (albeit not always younger) Latin American players at the Rays’ Spring Training complex.

He also found a passion that he set out to keep whenever his next callup came.

"I told myself, if I’m in Triple-A or I’m in the big leagues, I want to keep that joy. I want to keep that energy for my teammates,” Caminero said. “I want to show them that I’m having fun. … Let them know that I’m here to play, and I want to have fun doing it."

On Aug. 13, the Rays felt the time was right and brought him back -- this time as their everyday third baseman, wearing No. 13. Having seen so many top prospects struggle this season, they expressed their excitement, but still preached patience.

"When he connects with the baseball, it's special. The mis-hits are special. He can hit a ball to right field like a power-hitting left-handed hitter. So, that's the draw,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said after promoting Caminero. “It's our responsibility to make sure that the way he organizes the strike zone, the frequency of contact, the defense, those things also have to be in order.”

Caminero has provided power for an underachieving Rays lineup, hitting .278 with an .802 OPS in 15 games. He doubled twice and ripped a pair of homers at Dodger Stadium last weekend and laced his first career triple in Seattle on Wednesday.

His bat speed already ranks among the Majors’ elite, and he’s starting to more consistently deliver the loud contact and eye-popping exit velocities that made him the game’s top prospect.

“It's just amazing how the ball jumps off his bat,” Cash said.

Between his promotion from Triple-A and the end of play on Wednesday, Caminero had five balls hit at 110 mph or more, according to Statcast, tied with Yordan Alvarez for fourth most in the Majors behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Oneil Cruz (nine) and Bobby Witt Jr. (six). Yandy Díaz (16) is the only Rays hitter with more 110+ mph batted balls all season.

"It's pretty phenomenal what that kid can do with the bat,” lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger said. “He's going to be a really good player for a long time.”

That’s all Caminero has ever wanted, he said: to help his team win as much as it can, to play for as long as he can, to use his gift as well as he can.

“It’s always been a dream of mine,” Caminero said, “and to be able to live out my dream has been a blessing.”