Baseball’s No. 2 prospect Junior Caminero shows off bat, glove in return to Rays lineup

The Tampa Bay Rays called up Junior Caminero on Tuesday to face the Houston Astros.

The No. 2 prospect in the 2024 class promptly displayed the skillset that makes him so coveted.

A 21-year-old third baseman, Caminero showed off his prowess at the hot corner on a line drive smoked down the line by Astros right fielder Mauricio Dubón in the second inning. Caminero dove for the out on a ball that otherwise would have surely gone for extra bases and likely scored Jake Meyers from first base.

Instead, it ended the inning.

Caminero struck on in his first at-bat in the bottom of the inning. But he secured his first hit of the season in his second on one of the hardest-hit balls of the year.

Caminero reached first on a single off Yusei Kikuchi starter Yusei Kikuchi that traveled 116.3 mph. Per Baseball Savant, only 14 players this season have hit a ball harder.

The hard-hit ball tracks with his scouting report. Per Rays Metrics, his 57% hard-hit rate with the AAA Durham Bulls was the second-best in the International League at the time of his call-up on Tuesday.

This isn’t Caminero’s first stint with the Rays. Tampa Bay called him up for a brief stint last season in the midst of a playoff race. He went 4 for 34 (.235) in seven regular-season games with a home run and seven RBI. He then went hitless in two postseason at-bats in Tampa Bay’s wild-card round loss to the Texas Rangers.

This season’s call-up comes with 44 games remaining and the 59-59 Rays 5.5 games back in the AL wild-card race. It’s a longshot for Tampa Bay to make the postseason, but Caminero’s call-up makes the race more interesting.

Caminero has the power to make an instant impact at the MLB level. In 2023, he slashed .324/.384/.591 with 31 home runs and 94 RBI, a big reason the Rays called up him when the stakes were their highest.

Quadriceps injuries limited to 53 games with the Bulls this season. He’s been productive when healthy, slashing .277/.331/.498 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI.

He’s got some adjusting to do to MLB pitching. Caminero finished 1 for 4 at the plate on Tuesday with three strikeouts. He struck out on three pitches in each of his last two at-bats. But plate discipline wasn’t a problem. Each of his swinging strikes were on balls in the zone.

Houston won Tuesday’s game, 3-2.