Rays 3B Junior Caminero draws Miguel Cabrera comps

HOUSTON – Junior Caminero smiled at the compliment, raising an eyebrow for a split second as though waiting for the punchline. The Tampa Bay Rays’ prodigy was humbled to learn that a top MLB official compared him favorably to Miguel Cabrera recently.

It’s unfair to put those types of expectations on anybody. Nonetheless, the 21-year-old Caminero just showed why he’s considered one of the best young players in baseball. Two days after driving in six runs against the Astros, he was 4-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs against Houston.

“He’s a legend,” Caminero says of Cabrera. “He’s a legend and future Hall of Famer. For them to compare me to Miguel Cabrera, that’s something that gives me a lot of joy. It gives me a lot of inspiration to keep working and give the best of myself. 

“And to listen to people who say that about myself, that gives me strength to keep giving the best of myself on the diamond. To hear them compare me to him is a blessing.”

Quick rise

Caminero was only 20 years old when he made his debut in the majors on Sept. 23, 2023. He hit one home run and drove in seven runs during a seven-game cameo that September. He then split the 2024 season between Class AAA Durham and the Rays, hitting .248 with six home runs and 18 RBIs over 43 games in the majors.

Junior Caminero, who will turn 22 on July 5, appears to be in the majors for good now. He is hitting .265 with a career-high 13 home runs and 37 RBIs this season. Caminero grew up in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. For as long as he can remember, he aspired to play in the majors.

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“I was a boy who was a dreamer,” he says. “I was a boy who always liked baseball. With the support of my family, my father has given me the support. I was a boy who always played baseball since I was little. All I know in life is to play baseball. 

“Nowadays I’ve been growing. God gave me the opportunity to be here in the big leagues, and I will give the best of myself to help the team.”

Manny Machado fan

His childhood hero is Dominican American Manny Machado, the San Diego Padres’ six-time All-Star third baseman. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Caminero received a $225,000 signing bonus from the Cleveland Guardians as a 16-year-old amateur free agent in 2019, so his potential was clearly appreciated early on.

Nonetheless, the Guardians traded him to the Rays in November 2021 for Tobias Myers ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Caminero then sprinted through the Rays’ farm system. He hit 11 home runs with 51 RBIs and a .314 batting average over 63 games between Rookie League and Low Class A in 2022. Then he went to the Australian Baseball League for winter ball. 

A year later, he hit 31 home runs with 94 RBIs with a .324 batting average over 117 games between High Class A and Class AA in 2023 to earn his first promotion to the majors.

As a testament to his love of the game and his island, Caminero has played winter ball the last two years with his hometown’s Leones del Escogido.

Proud Dominican

He aspires to represent the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but he clearly knows his country has plenty of All-Star talent at third base.

When asked to pick his all-time Dominican lineup, he couldn’t decide between Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre and perennial All-Stars and MVP candidates Jose Ramirez and Machado.

“At third base?” he said. “Oof! I’d put? There are Adrian Beltre, Machado, Jose Ramirez, wow. God! I’d put my favorite player, Machado.”

The kid who dreamed about playing in the majors now can dream about joining his childhood hero in the Dominican Republic’s WBC roster. Caminero is coming off the best week of his career. He earned co-American League Player of the Week honors with Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

Junior Caminero was 11-for-29 (.379) with four home runs, 13 RBIs, four doubles and eight runs scored for the week ending June 1. In that span, he had a .931 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percent while leading the majors in RBIs, extra-base hits (8) and total bases (27).

“Cami is becoming a really good MLB player and has a chance to be great,” Rays bench coach Rodney Linares said. “He’s a great kid that wants to be a great player. He’s one of the hardest workers and pays attention to detail. His biggest asset is that he listens and learns quickly.”