Junior Caminero has made the case for an All-Star start about as loudly as a player can make it.
The Rays third baseman has the numbers, the spotlight and the backing of the people around him, and now he’s one of the two finalists for the American League’s starting job at third base in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia in two weeks. If he gets the nod, it would be his second straight start in the Midsummer Classic - a rare distinction for a 22-year-old, and one that would mean even more because this time it would come directly from the fans.
Caminero made sure to send one last message before leaving his Friday interview session in Kansas City.
“And fans,” Caminero said, “vote, please.”
Phase 2 of the voting began Monday and continues through Thursday at noon ET. Fans can vote once per day at MLB.com/vote, on all 30 team sites, or through the MLB app and MLB Ballpark app.
The challenge for Caminero is obvious: he’s going head-to-head with Toronto rookie Kazuma Okamoto, and Blue Jays fans turned Phase 1 into a tidal wave. Caminero actually led the first two balloting updates, but he finished the opening round with 2,103,882 votes, just behind Okamoto’s 2,125,888.
Toronto’s footprint across the ballot was hard to miss. The defending AL champions have seven finalists for eight spots, and one of the starting jobs is already spoken for by Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement, who led all AL players in votes. Caminero was one of only a handful of non-Blue Jays to finish near the top, with only Yordan Alvarez, Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Mike Trout, Clement, Okamoto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drawing more votes in Phase 1.
The good news for Caminero is that the totals reset for this round, so the race is now a clean runoff. The bad news is that he’ll need help to hold off a Toronto push that already showed its strength.
“It’s no secret that the Toronto fanbase is double the size that we have here, but credit to them, right?” Caminero said through team interpreter Kevin Vera. “They always support their guys, and they always are supporting their team every day.”
If the voting were based purely on what Caminero has done lately, the race might already be over. He was named AL Player of the Week on Monday after going off over the last six games, batting .500 with seven homers and 15 RBIs. That stretch followed the kind of season that has turned him into one of the league’s most dangerous young hitters, blending the power from his 45-homer breakout last year with a sharper eye and more discipline at the plate.
“Just growth. We forget that he’s 22,” Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola said.
“We forget the lack of experience that he had, even in the Minor Leagues. All these things, he’s learning in real time.
… Cami’s doing all this in a pretty short span.”
Caminero’s value goes beyond the box score, too. He’s the kind of player who lifts a dugout, and the Rays see it every day.
On Sunday afternoon, one inning after launching a moonshot into borderline-unreachable territory at Tropicana Field, he was the first player out to celebrate Ben Williamson’s second homer of the season, throwing his arms into the air as if he had done it himself. After the game, he rattled off teammates he’d like to see in Philadelphia with him.
He also brings the kind of energy the All-Star Game feeds on. “La Maxima” plays with a quick smile, endless juice and a real feel for the moment, whether it’s in the Dominican Winter League, the World Baseball Classic or with the Rays. He hasn’t said yet whether he’ll take part in another Home Run Derby, but it was easy to see last year that the event fits his style.
“That’s my personality. That’s the way I play baseball,” Caminero said.
“Every day I try to have that same type of energy, because it's just who I am, really, on and off the field. I recognize that right now with this team … I’ve got to keep my head up, and everybody will get behind me.”
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