Baseballs’ Next Big Superstar: Junior Caminero is Becoming Exactly What the Rays Needed

Not so long ago, the Rays had a young shortstop taking Major League Baseball by storm with his effortless talent and elite bat-to-ball skills. Losing him left a huge question mark about who the next face of the franchise would be.

Then came a powerful young third baseman from the Dominican Republic with one of the sweetest swings in baseball. Junior Caminero made his Major League debut in 2023 as a 19-year-old but didn’t receive his first real opportunity until last season. In 2025, Caminero put the league on notice after earning his first All-Star selection. He slashed .264/.311/.535 with 45 home runs, 28 doubles, 110 RBIs, an .846 OPS, a 130 OPS+, and 4.3 WAR across 653 plate appearances. Those are ridiculous numbers from any player, let alone a 21-year-old trying to establish himself in the hardest professional league in the world.

There was plenty of talk that Caminero’s breakout was inflated by the Rays playing in a minor league stadium last season.

He’s shutting those critics up quickly.

Caminero has gotten off to an immensely hot start in 2026 and has become the centerpiece of one of the best offenses in baseball. He’s especially valuable because he brings something Tampa Bay’s lineup desperately needs: elite power. The Rays have built their offense around speed, contact, and putting pressure on opposing defenses. Caminero changes the complexion of that lineup because he’s capable of changing a game with one swing. Outside of Caminero, only Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Díaz provide consistent power production, and neither offers anything close to the level of impact Caminero brings to the middle of the order. Actually, not many players across the entire sport offer similar power production.

The scary part?

He’s only getting started.

There simply aren’t many hitters in baseball capable of producing the kind of power Caminero possesses at just 22 years old. If his development continues on this trajectory, the Rays may have found their next franchise superstar.

[embed]Caminero has hit 7 Homers in 6 Games, including a 3HR Game

In 354 PA’s to start the 2026 season Caminero is slashing .292/.384/.548 with a .932 OPS, 155 OPS+, 22 home runs, 49 RBI’s, and 12 doubles. He seems to be performing even better with Tropicana as him home ball park, so nobody can say anything about the external factors last season. He is cementing himself as one of the top young players in all of baseball, and he could find himself contending for the MVP award at the end of the season. Taking a look at his current numbers, you can clearly see improvement in a number of areas. His BA, OBP, and SLG are all up from last season. His OBP is especially impressive, as he was in the bottom half of the league in walk percentage last year. Now, his 13.3 BB% is 89th percentile in all of baseball. That’s not the only underlying metric that stands out.

Caminero is:

• 89th percentile in xwOBA
• 84th percentile in xBA (.278)
• 88th percentile in xSLG (.501)
• 95th percentile in Avg Exit Velo (93.4 mph)
• 94th percentile in Hard-Hit % (52%)
• 72nd percentile in K % (17.5%)

To think he is hitting the ball this hard as a 22 year old whos’ body is not even filled out yet is ridiculous. One thing that stands out about him, outside of everything I’ve mentioned above, is Caminero has the highest average speed on his swing (80mph). He has been 100th percentile in Bat Speed over the last two seasons. Caminero is well on his well to his second consecutive All-Star game, and the production this season has taken a major leap. One area of improvement will need to come on the defensive end. He’s been a below average defender so far, to put it lightly. This season he’s -11 in OAA. He has a strong arm so he’s definitely capable of developing into an average third basemen but I doubt he’ll ever compete for any gold gloves. Which is fine, as long as he keeps swinging the bat like an MVP candidate.