Following their series-opening loss to the Houston Astros, the Tampa Bay Rays are expected to promote top prospect Junior Caminero for his highly anticipated season debut on Tuesday. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the Rays will recall their top infield prospect Junior Caminero from Triple-A Durham for Tuesday’s game against the Astros. Since he is already on the 40-man roster, the Rays will only need to make an active roster transaction. Tampa Bay has yet to officially confirm Caminero’s pending promotion.
Hearing that top prospect Junior Caminero has been called up by #Rays, will join them Tuesday
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 13, 2024
Caminero made his MLB debut last September, hitting .235/.278/.353 in seven games with one homer and seven RBI. The Rays included him on their Wild Card roster but went hitless in two at-bats against the Rangers. Caminero, the second-ranked prospect in baseball, jumped from Double-A to the majors last season and reported to Spring Training ready to go wherever the Rays sent him.
Rays Promote Junior Caminero
He began the season with Triple-A Durham, hitting 13 homers and driving in 34 runs while batting .276/.331/.498. The 21-year-old has been sidelined twice this season with a pair of quad strains, limiting him to just 53 games. Since his most recent injured list stint, Caminero is batting .304 with five homers and 10 RBI over 19 games.
“We’re really excited about what we’re seeing. The at-bats since he’s come back [from the injured list] have looked really good. The defense has made progress,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said on Friday. “It’s just a matter of wanting to make sure that, when he comes here, he’s in a position to succeed. Because it is much, much harder to hit here than it is in Triple-A.”
Caminero is expected to get most of his playing time at third base and could get some at-bats as the Rays designated hitter. Tampa is hopeful the righty-hitting infielder can add more pop to a Rays lineup in dire need of a boost. They rank among the league’s worst clubs this season in runs scored (28th), OPS (25th) and home runs (26th). Despite this being Caminero’s first real run against big league pitching, with his plus-plus power, he could eventually hit 30 to 40 homers in an MLB season.
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