MLB.com’s latest age-by-age look at the game put Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in a spot that fits the season he’s put together. In Will Leitch’s rankings, Caminero came out as the best 22-year-old in Major League Baseball.
The choice goes beyond a single hot stretch. Leitch was weighing the best overall player at each age, not just the cleanest current stat line, and Caminero’s body of work already makes that case hard to ignore. He’s only in the middle of his second full big league season, but the résumé is filling up fast.
Last year was the breakout. Caminero made his first All-Star Game and finished in the Top-10 in American League MVP voting after putting up 45 home runs, which ranked third in the AL and sixth in baseball, along with 110 RBIs, good for sixth in the AL and eighth overall. He also finished in the league’s top 10 in slugging percentage at .535.
This season has only strengthened the argument that 2025 was no one-year spike. Through 133 games, Caminero is hitting .280/.366/.531 with 35 home runs, 84 RBIs, 81 runs scored, 68 walks and an .897 OPS.
The biggest jump has come in the strike-zone judgment. His walk rate has climbed from 6.3% last year to 11.7% so far in 2026, nearly doubling.
For Tampa Bay, Caminero is doing more than piling up numbers. He’s become a central piece of a lineup that has helped drive the Rays to the top of the standings. Tampa Bay has been in first place in the competitive AL East since late June and owns the best record in the AL.
Leitch’s other 22-year-old finalists included Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers, Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds and Cole Young of the Seattle Mariners.
For Caminero, the recognition is just the latest marker of how far and how fast he’s risen. And with the Rays still rolling, there’s plenty more spotlight coming.
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Tampa Bay answered with its own pressure in the same frame, turning a bases-loaded situation into a surge that put the game back on its side. The result carried extra weight beyond one wild night at the ballpark, since the Rays also saw their cushion over the Yankees widen after New York dropped the opener of its doubleheader, a small but welcome piece of scoreboard watching in a tight division race. [Read more 🡒]