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PORT CHARLOTTE — The Rays have seen flashes of Junior Caminero’s physical talent, most notably the elite bat speed he calls “a blessing” from God that enables him to hit baseballs viciously hard and ridiculously far.
They have seen snapshots of his desires for a leading role, to be at the plate in a key situation, to be a leader among even older teammates, to be comfortable in the social media spotlight and glare.
And they have seem samples of his work ethic, of his willingness and dedication to put in the time — and, occasionally, extra time — not just on the fun parts, such as launching batting practice homers, but on defense, baserunning and conditioning.
So now it’s a matter of seeing what Caminero — at age 21, on a team that doesn’t have an obvious star and could use a spark — builds off that base as he heads into his first full season as an every-day big-leaguer.
“We’re putting a lot on Cami because we know how special and talented he is,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Friday. “And we’re excited to see how that kicks off for the start of this season.”
The Rays already felt good about Caminero’s physical tools.
They saw plenty of his play last season around a couple injuries at Triple-A Durham, his 43-game August/September stretch with them and his star turn with Escogido in the Dominican winter league playoffs — famous bat flip and all.
They seemed this spring to avoid adding to the hype, but will show their confidence by sticking Caminero at third base and somewhere in the middle of their lineup and letting him play pretty much every day.
“From the verbiage that’s been used, he’s another one of those guys that he’s extremely, extremely talented, and he’s not OK with where he’s at,” veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “He’s on the half field doing early (defensive) work, he’s in the cage, he’s talking with other guys, trying to improve in any facet.
“So I’m extremely excited to see what he does for a full year. We got a little glimpse of him last year, at kind of a weird time in Rays baseball — we weren’t sure if we were in it, out of it, what was happening.
“But just to get a full season, get 162 (games) for Junior, let him have his ups, have his downs, I know that from what I’ve heard, and everything else, it’s going to be really, really interesting to see him play.”
Caminero’s Rays bosses are as excited about his attitude and approach.
“What gives him the potential to be a superstar-level player is his maturity accelerating at a faster-than-average rate,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “Appreciating the work required to be that superstar-level player is something he’s understanding quickly and has the chance to be the separator that elevates him to the tiers above where he is now. …
“To not just look great but to be great requires a lot of work and a lot of discipline to do it for a long time. That investment starts now, or has already started. He’s begun that process of further committing himself in that way, to that standard. Just learning it as early as he has is something that you hope sticks with him and ensures that he makes the absolute most of his ability — not just for this season, but for a decade-plus.“
The Rays have liked Caminero since they scouted him as a teenager in the Dominican Republic and acquired him in November 2021 from Cleveland after his first season in the entry-level summer league. And more so as they saw him rise through their system, making a cameo big-league debut straight from Double A at the end of the 2023 season and, after dealing with quad issues, for the tail end of 2024.
As encouraging was what they heard — publicly and privately — this past winter from Escogido team officials.
Longtime MLB star Albert Pujols, who managed the Leones, raved regularly to Dominican media about Caminero, praising his talent, energy, willingness to learn and improve.
And that was in addition to the 454-foot, ninth-inning, go-ahead homer Caminero hit in Game 7 of the championship series, followed by an epic bat flip and exuberant celebratory trot around the bases, which led Escogido to the title.
“He’s going to be a superstar,” Pujols said. “It’s special.”
Escogido is Caminero’s hometown team, and general manager Luis Rojas said from when they took him first overall in the September 2023 draft, Caminero — who was 20 at the time —wanted to have a leadership role.
“We gave him a lot of responsibility with the leaders of the group, even before he played his first game,” said Rojas, whose summer job is third base coach for the Yankees. “We’d go to the owners’ house and have conversations about what we needed in Escogido to win the next championship.
“So I think immediately we noticed his ability of just feeling really comfortable talking. He’s got a really good personality — positive, sure of himself, conviction in his words. And still with a lot of room to grow, of course.
“But he’s a guy that wants to be in the middle of it. He wants to lead, he wants to help a team win, and not only from a performance standpoint, but he wants to be vocal, too. So I think that helps a lot, and that helps people connect with him really well.”
Caminero also likes connecting with his fans, in person and via his frequently-updated Instagram account.
He has embraced his increasing celebrity, such as a February photo op with NBA star LeBron James and a Thursday video of an electronic billboard in Tampa flipping to an ad for the Rays' season-opening series with his own photo.
Caminero’s combination of youth, talent and social nature can be a very good thing.
But — fairly or not — the Rays’ past experiences with a couple of other young, talented, highly-touted players — Josh Hamilton and Wander Franco, who ended up in trouble — can at least be viewed as cautionary tales in providing guidance to Caminero.
“The better you are, or the stronger the perception is of your abilities, the more attention comes with it, the more expectations come with it. And that is a lot to put on anybody in their late teens, early 20s,” Neander said. “Our job is just to make sure — and this is across the board — you’re doing everything you can to help young adults build the foundation they need to weather those stresses and those expectations. Because they can be a lot.
“It’s a lot of fun when things are going well individually or as a team, but it’s not always going to be that way. And it’s on us to make sure that we’re not just developing baseball players, but developing young adults, men. And that’s something that stays very much on the forefront of our mind, and will continue to be that way.”
Caminero, like others before him and to come, can be in that spotlight.
“Every person is unique. You’re always trying to learn from your experiences — our first-hand experiences, our players’ experiences — and trying to be better for them,” Neander said.
“Junior is Junior. We take learnings and lessons from a wide assortment of players, and we shape our thoughts about young players and how to help them find success and sustain it and do it all the right way. Right now, our focus is just making sure we do that. Wherever that leads, it’ll lead. But want to just make sure we put him, and I’ve talked about it with any young player — that applies to Josh Lowe, that applies to Curtis Mead — it’s really, really difficult to find your footing in the big leagues, stick, survive and then excel and stay there.
“And more than anything, we are just — part of it might be because of our circumstances this season, what it’s about is we’re keeping our focus right there, and believe that’ll serve Junior and other young, emerging players, the best."
Friday, it all starts to count.
• • •
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They have seen snapshots of his desires for a leading role, to be at the plate in a key situation, to be a leader among even older teammates, to be comfortable in the social media spotlight and glare.
And they have seem samples of his work ethic, of his willingness and dedication to put in the time — and, occasionally, extra time — not just on the fun parts, such as launching batting practice homers, but on defense, baserunning and conditioning.
So now it’s a matter of seeing what Caminero — at age 21, on a team that doesn’t have an obvious star and could use a spark — builds off that base as he heads into his first full season as an every-day big-leaguer.
“We’re putting a lot on Cami because we know how special and talented he is,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Friday. “And we’re excited to see how that kicks off for the start of this season.”
The Rays already felt good about Caminero’s physical tools.
They saw plenty of his play last season around a couple injuries at Triple-A Durham, his 43-game August/September stretch with them and his star turn with Escogido in the Dominican winter league playoffs — famous bat flip and all.
They seemed this spring to avoid adding to the hype, but will show their confidence by sticking Caminero at third base and somewhere in the middle of their lineup and letting him play pretty much every day.
“From the verbiage that’s been used, he’s another one of those guys that he’s extremely, extremely talented, and he’s not OK with where he’s at,” veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “He’s on the half field doing early (defensive) work, he’s in the cage, he’s talking with other guys, trying to improve in any facet.
“So I’m extremely excited to see what he does for a full year. We got a little glimpse of him last year, at kind of a weird time in Rays baseball — we weren’t sure if we were in it, out of it, what was happening.
“But just to get a full season, get 162 (games) for Junior, let him have his ups, have his downs, I know that from what I’ve heard, and everything else, it’s going to be really, really interesting to see him play.”
Caminero’s Rays bosses are as excited about his attitude and approach.
“What gives him the potential to be a superstar-level player is his maturity accelerating at a faster-than-average rate,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “Appreciating the work required to be that superstar-level player is something he’s understanding quickly and has the chance to be the separator that elevates him to the tiers above where he is now. …
“To not just look great but to be great requires a lot of work and a lot of discipline to do it for a long time. That investment starts now, or has already started. He’s begun that process of further committing himself in that way, to that standard. Just learning it as early as he has is something that you hope sticks with him and ensures that he makes the absolute most of his ability — not just for this season, but for a decade-plus.“
The Rays have liked Caminero since they scouted him as a teenager in the Dominican Republic and acquired him in November 2021 from Cleveland after his first season in the entry-level summer league. And more so as they saw him rise through their system, making a cameo big-league debut straight from Double A at the end of the 2023 season and, after dealing with quad issues, for the tail end of 2024.
As encouraging was what they heard — publicly and privately — this past winter from Escogido team officials.
Longtime MLB star Albert Pujols, who managed the Leones, raved regularly to Dominican media about Caminero, praising his talent, energy, willingness to learn and improve.
And that was in addition to the 454-foot, ninth-inning, go-ahead homer Caminero hit in Game 7 of the championship series, followed by an epic bat flip and exuberant celebratory trot around the bases, which led Escogido to the title.
“He’s going to be a superstar,” Pujols said. “It’s special.”
Escogido is Caminero’s hometown team, and general manager Luis Rojas said from when they took him first overall in the September 2023 draft, Caminero — who was 20 at the time —wanted to have a leadership role.
“We gave him a lot of responsibility with the leaders of the group, even before he played his first game,” said Rojas, whose summer job is third base coach for the Yankees. “We’d go to the owners’ house and have conversations about what we needed in Escogido to win the next championship.
“So I think immediately we noticed his ability of just feeling really comfortable talking. He’s got a really good personality — positive, sure of himself, conviction in his words. And still with a lot of room to grow, of course.
“But he’s a guy that wants to be in the middle of it. He wants to lead, he wants to help a team win, and not only from a performance standpoint, but he wants to be vocal, too. So I think that helps a lot, and that helps people connect with him really well.”
Caminero also likes connecting with his fans, in person and via his frequently-updated Instagram account.
He has embraced his increasing celebrity, such as a February photo op with NBA star LeBron James and a Thursday video of an electronic billboard in Tampa flipping to an ad for the Rays' season-opening series with his own photo.
Caminero’s combination of youth, talent and social nature can be a very good thing.
But — fairly or not — the Rays’ past experiences with a couple of other young, talented, highly-touted players — Josh Hamilton and Wander Franco, who ended up in trouble — can at least be viewed as cautionary tales in providing guidance to Caminero.
“The better you are, or the stronger the perception is of your abilities, the more attention comes with it, the more expectations come with it. And that is a lot to put on anybody in their late teens, early 20s,” Neander said. “Our job is just to make sure — and this is across the board — you’re doing everything you can to help young adults build the foundation they need to weather those stresses and those expectations. Because they can be a lot.
“It’s a lot of fun when things are going well individually or as a team, but it’s not always going to be that way. And it’s on us to make sure that we’re not just developing baseball players, but developing young adults, men. And that’s something that stays very much on the forefront of our mind, and will continue to be that way.”
Caminero, like others before him and to come, can be in that spotlight.
“Every person is unique. You’re always trying to learn from your experiences — our first-hand experiences, our players’ experiences — and trying to be better for them,” Neander said.
“Junior is Junior. We take learnings and lessons from a wide assortment of players, and we shape our thoughts about young players and how to help them find success and sustain it and do it all the right way. Right now, our focus is just making sure we do that. Wherever that leads, it’ll lead. But want to just make sure we put him, and I’ve talked about it with any young player — that applies to Josh Lowe, that applies to Curtis Mead — it’s really, really difficult to find your footing in the big leagues, stick, survive and then excel and stay there.
“And more than anything, we are just — part of it might be because of our circumstances this season, what it’s about is we’re keeping our focus right there, and believe that’ll serve Junior and other young, emerging players, the best."
Friday, it all starts to count.
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
