Junior Caminero and Luis García Jr. spent last week doing what sluggers do best: piling up home runs and forcing the league to take notice. On Monday, that power surge earned Caminero the American League Player of the Week award and García the National League honor.
Caminero’s week was especially loud. The Rays third baseman went deep seven times in six games, including three homers in one game against the Royals. That total tied the most by a hitter age 22 or younger since at least 1900, matching Bryce Harper in 2015, Willie Horton in 1965 and Boog Powell in 1964.
He saved one of his biggest blasts for last. Caminero’s final homer of the week was a 463-foot solo shot against the D-backs on Sunday, the Rays’ second-longest homer since 2021. It also helped Tampa Bay win its fifth straight game and move into sole possession of first place in the AL East ahead of the Yankees.
The 22-year-old, who was a finalist to start at third base in the All-Star Game, finished the week with a .423/.500/1.231 slash line in 30 plate appearances. He drove in 15 runs, tying the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson for the MLB lead. It was the second Player of the Week award of Caminero’s career after he shared the honor with Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the week of May 31, 2025.
García had a monster week of his own, even if he didn’t quite match Caminero’s homer total. The Nationals first baseman launched six home runs in six games and led the majors in batting average (.526), on-base percentage (.591) and slugging percentage (1.579) to earn his first career Player of the Week nod.
He homered in each of Washington’s first three games of the week, then added another in a four-hit performance on Saturday. García capped it off with two more homers in Sunday’s win over the Orioles, a victory that pushed the Nationals back above .500 at 43-42.
That outburst put him in rare company for Washington. The last Nationals player to homer at least six times in a six-game stretch was Kyle Schwarber in June 2021, and García’s 11 homers this month are the most by a Nationals player since Schwarber hit 16 in June five years ago.
The week’s other award went to Phillies center fielder Derek Hill, whose defensive gem on Friday erased what would have been a Juan Soto home run for the Mets. Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler called the play “the best one I've ever seen in person.”
Hill’s timing and range made the robbery work. He raced to the right-center-field wall, jumped without slowing down, reached his left arm over the fence and brought back Soto’s bid for his 18th homer of the season.
“That was incredible,” Soto said afterwards.
In Other News...
Tigers Move On From Lefty As Bullpen Reality Sets In
Konnor Pilkingtons latest stop in Detroit ended earlier this week, when the Tigers released the left-hander after a stretch that included time with Triple-A Toledo. Signed to a minor league deal before spring training, Pilkington was brought in as organizational pitching depth, but his performance never fully settled in, continuing a career pattern that has been defined by command issues.
For Washington, the name still carries a little more familiarity than most waiver-wire arm. Pilkington spent time in the Nationals bullpen before being designated for assignment in January, and his profile has remained the same wherever he has landed: live enough to keep getting looks, but with the kind of walk problems that make it hard to trust him in a big-league relief role. The Tigers move simply reinforces the question other clubs will have to answer if they decide he is worth another shot. [Read more 🡒]
Luis Garcia Jr. Is Forcing A Nationals Question Fans Won't Ignore
Luis Garcia Jr. spent the week doing exactly what the Nationals have been waiting to see from him. The first baseman homered twice against the Orioles, then closed out a six-homer week that put him squarely in the middle of the clubs evolving offensive picture. For a team looking for signs of a more consistent middle-order threat, Garcias recent power burst has been impossible to overlook.
The broader question now is how much of that production the Nationals can keep in the lineup going forward, especially with the way their schedule is shaping up. Garcia has been getting limited run against left-handers, but he has still made the most of those chances, and his recent surge only adds to the pressure on the coaching staff to keep the bat in the order while its hot. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Deadline Picture Just Shifted In A Way Fans Feared
The Nationals recent surge has only sharpened the conversation around the trade deadline, because a club that looks closer to the race has to weigh whether it should add now or keep building for later. Washington has been linked in broad terms to starting pitching upgrades, and that made the latest chatter from around the Angels worth watching closely as possible rotation help began to look like a fit.
Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY noted that Los Angeles is not planning to move Reid Detmers or Jose Soriano, which immediately cools one avenue Washington had been hoping might open. Even if that changes, the bigger question for the Nationals is whether the price on a controllable starter would be palatable enough to justify the sort of prospect cost that usually comes with a deadline push. [Read more 🡒]