CLEVELAND — Junior Caminero remembers his first home run.
At just 22 years old, the Rays’ third baseman has already asserted himself as one of the premier power hitters at the highest level of the sport. But his generational slugging prowess didn’t manifest overnight.
“I was 10 or 11,” Caminero told Yahoo Sports through team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “It was a Little League tournament at a park called the Olímpico.”
Like many who grew up in the Dominican Republic, Caminero’s dreams of becoming a major-league ballplayer started young. And on this particular day at a ballfield in the heart of the island nation’s capital city, Santo Domingo, one swing sparked a supercharged journey to big-league stardom.
The opposing team was from the nearby neighborhood of La Javilla. The pitcher was a lefty. The outfield fences were about 250 feet away from home plate. Caminero crushed one over the wall — the first of many.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
In the decade or so since, his catalogue of demolished baseballs has expanded exponentially. At every stop along his baseball journey, Caminero has demonstrated a remarkable ability to clear the fence. And now, as he prepares to enter the final month of his first full major-league season, home run history is already within reach.
On Monday in Cleveland, facing the organization that signed him as an amateur before trading him away in one of the more ill-fated transactions in recent memory, Caminero launched his 38th and 39th home runs of 2025. Just three players in MLB history have hit 40 home runs in their age-21 season or younger (defined as a player’s age on June 30; Caminero turned 22 on July 5): Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953), Mel Ott (42 in 1929) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (41 in 2019). With 29 games remaining, Caminero is on track to become the fourth, with a chance to surpass Mathews for the most homers ever in a season by a player so young.
“There's just not many people in this game that can consistently impact the ball as hard as he can,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said in Cleveland, just hours before Caminero’s latest long balls. “And the harder you hit it, the better chance you're gonna have success.”
In a sense, Caminero’s early-career accomplishments are rooted in that simple reality. But his path to this point, while certainly expedited, was anything but straightforward.
'Maybe we should pay a little bit more attention to this kid'
As an amateur, Caminero did not notably stand out from his peers. While high-profile prospects such as Jasson Dominguez secured bonuses north of $5 million, Caminero ranked nowhere near the top of his signing class when he agreed to a deal with Cleveland worth $87,500 in July 2019, just days before his 16th birthday.
Normally, international signees debut the following year in the Dominican Summer League, but the pandemic erased that opportunity in 2020. For Caminero, it was a blessing in disguise, as the canceled season afforded him an additional year to get stronger in preparation for the rigors of professional baseball. Reflecting back now, he calls the delayed start to his career “the best thing that happened to me.”
“Prior to that, I don't think I had the power that I had,” he said. “If I would have played that season [in 2020], I would have probably hit maybe five [home runs].”
Instead, once his pro debut arrived in 2021, Caminero was in much better position to succeed. His nine home runs in 43 games ranked second in the DSL, and the earliest renditions of his electric swing were on regular display, seizing the attention of scouts who previously knew little about him. With that, he quickly jumped on the radar as one of Cleveland's more intriguing lower-level prospects
But then, just a few months after completing his first pro season, Caminero was traded to the Rays in exchange for pitching prospect Tobias Myers, who was coming off a strong season in the upper minors. It was hardly considered a blockbuster; rather, it was a minor swap between two clubs managing their 40-man rosters at the outset of the offseason, exchanging a teenage lottery ticket for a pitcher who projected to contribute at the big-league level in the near future.
As it turned out, however, Myers never made it to the majors with Cleveland and bounced around a couple more teams before finding a home with Milwaukee. Meanwhile, it didn’t take long for the Rays to realize they’d struck gold.
Caminero’s stateside debut in 2022 was eye-opening. He mashed his way to Low-A Charleston, where he was one of the youngest players at the level. Wanting to challenge him and sustain his developmental momentum, the Rays suggested his season continue further — and farther away — than Caminero ever could’ve imagined. The organization wanted the 19-year-old to spend part of the winter playing for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League, a team that has hosted several Rays prospects in recent years.
"When they told me for the first time, I thought about it, I was like, ‘No, I'm not gonna go there. It's too far. I'm gonna be away from my family,’” Caminero said. But after some convincing from his agent, Rafa Nieves, Caminero understood the opportunity and agreed.
“He was like, ‘If you go there and you put the work in, you're gonna remember that time there,’” Caminero recalled. “And that's what happened.”
While the competition in Australia isn’t as grueling as in the winter leagues in Latin America, the unique setting on the other side of the globe tested more than just Caminero’s on-field ability. Most crucially, it was a chance for him to demonstrate the maturity and confidence necessary to thrive in an unfamiliar environment, which he did with aplomb.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that he also demolished said competition, smashing 14 home runs in 39 games for Perth and continuing the homer-heavy theme of his burgeoning career.
By the time Caminero returned to the northern hemisphere for spring training in 2023, he was no longer a hidden gem.
“I remember watching him when he came over for a game against Minnesota up in Fort Myers,” Rays bench coach Rodney Linares recalled. “He hit BP, and he was hitting the ball, just peppering the center-field wall. I was like, ‘Oh, maybe we should pay a little bit more attention to this kid.’”
Another 31 home runs later across High-A and Double-A, and Caminero arrived, making his major-league debut for Tampa Bay at the end of September at age 20.
[Get more Tampa Bay news: Rays team feed]
'Sky's the limit for the kid'
A highly anticipated rookie season appeared to be on deck in 2024, but Caminero was optioned to Triple-A to start the year, and then his return to the majors was delayed further by a quad injury that cost him all of June. He showed glimpses of greatness in the second half, but the true breakout began after the season, when Caminero starred in the Dominican Winter League. His epic run was punctuated by a breathtaking, game-winning home run that clinched the championship for Leones del Escogido, the team he grew up cheering for.
With nothing left to prove in the minors, a brief taste of big-league success and newfound stardom from his winter league heroics, Caminero entered 2025 eager to ascend further.
“I feel that I belong here,” he said of his mindset going into this season. “When I had my debut in ‘23, there was a lot of pressure. And last year, I came midseason, too. So this year, having that confidence since the beginning of the season, knowing that I was going to be here and that I was going to be playing, that has been huge for me.”
And the results have been tremendous. A big first half earned Caminero an invite to the All-Star Game and a spot in the Home Run Derby, where he put on an absolute show before falling in the finals to Cal Raleigh.
“He has that charisma that people are drawn to,” Linares said. “He is great with fans. The moment doesn't get too big for him. … Sky's the limit for the kid.”
Since the break, Caminero’s power production has only increased. With a few days left to go, he has hit an astounding dozen homers in August alone.
"I knew he had this in him,” said fellow 22-year-old infielder Carson Williams, who recently joined Caminero in the big leagues after being teammates at multiple levels in the minors. “I mean, he was the best hitter I've ever seen … I told everybody: He's gonna be so special.”
A work in progress on defense
Caminero’s rare combination of bat speed and barrel control enables an elite level of slugging without an overwhelming amount of whiffs. Only Giancarlo Stanton and Oneil Cruz swing the bat faster on average than Caminero, and while Stanton and Cruz both carry strikeout rates north of 30%, Caminero’s hovers around 20%.
That’s not to say Caminero’s offensive game is flawless. While his bat-to-ball skills and plate coverage suppress the strikeout totals, Caminero rarely draws walks, and his proclivity to chase pitches outside the zone often yields weak contact, hampering his ability to reach base with frequency; his .299 on-base percentage ranks 128th out of 153 qualified hitters. Developing his plate discipline is the most obvious area for growth as Caminero progresses, but the fact that he has been able to produce to this degree while employing a hyper-aggressive approach is a testament to his talent.
And even more encouraging than Caminero’s performance at the plate have been the strides made with his glove. Early in his professional career, Caminero was regarded as an extremely poor defender who looked uncomfortable and uncoordinated in the infield. With every rave review about his bat came a host of questions and concerns regarding his glove and where it would fit at the major-league level, casting doubt on his ultimate potential as a player.
Driven by that skepticism, Caminero has worked diligently with infield coach Brady Williams to overcome those longstanding concerns. And after rating notably poorly at third base over the first two months of 2025, Caminero has graded out as a plus defender since the start of June.
“I really applaud Cami for the effort, certainly at the plate, and the work that he does behind the scenes in the cage, but he's done just as much, if not more, on defense,” Cash said. "I've seen a guy that's more confident with his reads on ground balls, when to drop step, when to come get the ball. He's worked on his throwing accuracy. By no means am I saying he's a finished product, but he is working with that goal in mind.
“He wants to be an elite player on both sides of the ball.”
'He does not want to be good — he wants to be great'
For all he has already shown, Caminero knows how much better he can still get. With his supreme talent comes a profound respect and admiration for those who came before him, players whose greatness over a prolonged period serve as an example worth striving for. He wears No. 13 to honor Manny Machado, his favorite player growing up and one who also reached the big leagues at an incredibly young age and starred immediately. When Machado’s Padres were in Tampa last year, Linares, who managed Machado on Team Dominican Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, made sure the two connected.
“[Caminero] came up to me when we played San Diego … and he was like, ‘Hey, you managed Machado … how is he?’” Linares recalled. “As soon as I saw [Machado], I was like, ‘Hey, this kid, he's the next big thing coming up.’ And they talked, and they formed a really good relationship."
It was an emotional reunion for Caminero, who had met Machado as a kid in Baltimore back in 2014, around the same time he hit that first home run at the Olímpico. Machado embodies the kind of all-around superstar Caminero wants to become. At the same time, this fact puts what Caminero has achieved this season into perspective: Machado, with 363 career home runs, has never hit more than 37 in a season. Caminero has 39 before September.
“It feels good,” Caminero said when asked what it means to have already accomplished something that his Hall of Fame-bound hero never has. “But he's a legend. I want to emulate him.”
And so, not yet satisfied, Caminero forges ahead. Forming relationships with veterans such as Machado has only added to his motivation to maximize his potential in hopes that he can one day be the one passing down wisdom to the next generation.
“To continue to have those conversations that I have with Machado, Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez … All those good things that they've told me, just continue to put that in perspective and practice so I can be what they are for me right now … for other players in the future.”
Inspiring others remains a long-term goal. For now, Caminero is locked in on his own ambitions.
“He realizes the opportunity that he has and the ability that he has, and he's put in a lot of work,” Linares said. “He does not want to be good — he wants to be great.”
Comments