It’s getting harder to treat Junior Caminero like just another young bat having a nice first half. The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman has turned this stretch into something louder than that, and now the American League MVP conversation has his name in it for real.
Caminero, who finished ninth in voting last season, is only 22 and is putting together the kind of run that forces people to take notice. He hit his 23rd homer on Tuesday, and the power surge has been relentless.
According to MLB Stats, he is only the fourth player since 1900 to homer in five straight games at his age. Over the weekend, he also became the first player in Rays history to homer in the first inning in three straight games.
That kind of production has pushed him into the upper tier of the AL race. He currently has the fifth-best odds to win MVP, trailing Yordan Alvarez, Nick Kurtz, Bobby Witt Jr. and Ben Rice. All of them have strong cases, but only Alvarez has more home runs than Caminero among that group.
The numbers back up the buzz. After Tuesday’s win over the Royals, Caminero ranked third in the American League in home runs with 23, sixth in batting average at .294, sixth in hits with 91 and 12th in RBIs with 52.
There are still a couple of blemishes that keep him from being the clear favorite. His road production has lagged behind his work at Tropicana Field.
He owns a blistering 1.110 OPS at home, but that drops to .767 away from home. He is also hitting just .230 with runners in scoring position.
If those areas come around and the power keeps coming, his case will only get stronger.
And beyond the award talk, this is the kind of breakout that should have the Rays paying attention. The source of the optimism is obvious: a 22-year-old third baseman playing like one of the best hitters in baseball. Caminero is even starting to make a push to be viewed ahead of Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians as the game’s top third baseman.
For Tampa Bay, that matters. A star this young producing at this level changes the conversation around the roster, the season and what the Rays can become if the front office adds the right pieces.
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