Junior Caminero’s postseason slump is turning into a real problem for the Tampa Bay Rays.
After Game 3 of the ALCS, a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, Tampa Bay finds itself down 2-1 in the series - and still waiting for its biggest bats to show up. Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda were supposed to drive this offense. Instead, the Rays have spent most of October leaning on lesser names and hoping the lineup’s top end wakes up in time.
Caminero’s night was rough in every sense. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, in what was arguably his worst performance of the season.
And this wasn’t a case of Cleveland overpowering him with unhittable stuff. Gavin Williams wasn’t living on the edges; Caminero was the one expanding the zone, taking strikes early and then chasing pitches well off the plate.
That hasn’t been his usual look. It’s a sharp departure from the regular season version of Caminero, a year in which he has surely earned votes for American League MVP.
The power is still there on paper - he hit 45 home runs - but the postseason production hasn’t followed. He still hasn’t gone deep in the playoffs, and his line sits at .238 with a .666 OPS.
The struggles don’t stop with Caminero. Díaz is batting .240 with a .589 OPS, while Aranda is down at .182 with a .568 OPS.
Victor Mesa Jr. is hitting .143, and Liam Hicks isn’t far ahead at .167. These are the guys Tampa Bay needs to be carrying the offense, not searching for it.
Instead, the Rays have had to piece things together from the lower half of the order. Chandler Simpson supplied both of Tampa Bay’s runs on Thursday with a two-RBI triple against Williams. Richie Palacios has chipped in key hits, and Jonny DeLuca has been one of the more productive bats in the series.
But that can’t be the formula going forward.
The Rays won 98 games in the regular season because their lineup put the ball in play, created traffic and forced scoring chances. That identity has vanished in the postseason.
Tampa Bay still hasn’t scored more than four runs in any playoff game, and Thursday was maybe the most frustrating version of that trend. The Rays managed just three hits, struck out 13 times and fanned seven times from the top of the batting order alone.
That won’t cut it in October, especially against a Cleveland club that has made a habit of cashing in when chances arrive.
Tampa Bay is not finished yet. A 2-1 deficit in a seven-game series leaves plenty on the table. But if the Rays are going to keep their World Series hopes alive, their biggest offensive stars need to start looking like themselves - and soon.
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Rays Fans Are Turning The Trop Into A Playoff Lifeline
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The scene had a little extra novelty, too, with watch-party ticket holders getting a rare chance to go out on the field and toss the ball around. And there is more of it coming, since the Trop is set to host another watch party for Game 4 on Friday at 6 p.m., with tickets still available online. [Read more 🡒]