Caminero soars into Rays camp on wings of epic winter warmup
Adam Berry
@adamdberryPORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Yes, Junior Caminero has watched the video. He¡¯s seen the 454-foot shot off the scoreboard at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, the soaring bat flip, the raucous reaction from his Leones del Escogido teammates and every second of his minute-long trip around the bases.
He¡¯s replayed it a few times.
¡°Like 20,000,¡± Caminero said, smiling.
With one incredible swing, Caminero capped a remarkable postseason performance that helped him earn series MVP honors and delivered a title to the team he grew up rooting for as a kid in Santo Domingo.
¡°It was a great experience,¡± Caminero said through Rays interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. ¡°I felt like a little kid.¡±
Caminero¡¯s tie-breaking blast ¨C and viral home run trot ¨C in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (LIDOM) championship series was obviously the highlight of the 21-year-old¡¯s winter.
(That might seem obvious, but this is the same guy who just gave his No. 13 jersey to Lakers superstar LeBron James after his agent arranged a meeting while on vacation in Los Angeles. According to Caminero, James was surprised and ¡°said it was a nice jersey.¡±)
The home run was the realization of a childhood dream for Caminero. That¡¯s one reason he was overcome with emotion in the immediate aftermath, thinking about how he would put on an Escogido cap and attend games with his parents when he was a little kid. To grow up and experience that moment was almost too much to process.
¡°I¡¯ve never played in the World Series before, but to me, it felt like that,¡± Caminero said.
Caminero hopes he¡¯ll be able to draw the comparison soon enough, though. Asked about his goals for this season as he stood outside the clubhouse building at Charlotte Sports Park on Tuesday morning, his one-word answer was about Tampa Bay¡¯s outlook, not his own.
¡°Ring,¡± he said in English.
The Rays are reporting for Spring Training this week with similarly high expectations for Caminero, the former top prospect who is now preparing for his first full season in the Majors.
Caminero made a brief cameo down the stretch in 2023, and injuries in Triple-A last year limited him to 43 games with Tampa Bay. He¡¯s shown flashes of his elite ability at the plate, launching seven homers and driving in 25 runs with a 100 OPS+ in 50 games.
But the Rays see even bigger things ahead for their third baseman.
¡°You see the video clips and, obviously, it looks like he¡¯s ready to go,¡± starter Zack Littell said. ¡°I¡¯m excited. Junior¡¯s got all the upside in the world. We all know that. ¡ I¡¯m excited just to see him get a nice, long runway and see what he can do.¡±
Caminero expects more, too, saying he feels ready to play at the highest level and has 30 home runs on his mind. So does his Escogido manager, Albert Pujols.
¡°It¡¯s one of those guys that, when he¡¯s hitting, you make sure you don¡¯t miss a pitch,¡± Rays manager Kevin Cash said during Tampa Bay¡¯s spring-opening press conference on Tuesday afternoon. ¡°To have Albert Pujols talk the way he did about him -- a guy that is arguably one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, to be pretty wowed by a 21-year-old -- just shows how special of a player he can be.¡±
Caminero said it was ¡°great¡± playing for Pujols. He asked the surefire Hall of Famer for a daily assessment of his performance -- what he was doing right, what he could do better. Caminero put on a show for his big league manager, too, going deep during Cash¡¯s check-in trip to Santo Domingo last month.
¡°He didn¡¯t come back empty-handed,¡± Caminero said, grinning. ¡°He saw that I hit a home run.¡±
As happy as they were about what he did at the plate, the Rays were just as thrilled with his winter work off the field. Caminero reported to camp on Sunday and arrived with what Cash called ¡°a little bit of a changed physique,¡± the result of offseason conditioning with a long season in mind.
¡°Physically, I feel good. I went down to the Dominican last year knowing that I wanted to work on some things, especially my physique,¡± Caminero said. ¡°I¡¯m just blessed, and I asked God that he bless me and I¡¯m healthy this year so I can come in and do what I know best.¡±
What Caminero does best is what he did in that video clip he¡¯s watched so often. His ceiling is about as high as he threw that bat.
¡°We all saw how the end of the season went and the home run that he hit,¡± Cash said. ¡°That¡¯s good for a young player to feel that type of success.¡±