Tampa Bay Rays Recall Top MLB Prospect Junior Caminero
The Tampa Bay Rays are finally calling up the top prospect in baseball, as Junior Caminero is set to join their lineup on Tuesday.
News broke Monday evening that the Rays are recalling their top prospect and Just Baseball’s recently-named top prospect in all of MLB, Junior Caminero. While he was initially called up for seven games in 2023, this will presumably be Caminero’s first extended MLB stint at 21 years old.
Our Updated Top 100 Prospects List dropped last week with Junior Caminero jumping to the number one spot on the list and less than a week later he’s heading to Tampa. Caminero will join the Rays Tuesday in Tampa and look to impress heading into 2025 where is expected to become a core piece of their roster.
Caminero was an impressive 18-year-old Dominican Summer League prospect when he was traded from Cleveland to Tampa following the 2021 season, but truly emerged as one of the best prospects in baseball in 2023.
He finished last season with a .975 OPS and 31 home runs between High-A and Double-A and made the leap all the way to Tampa for a brief stint at the end of the year. This season led to him being one of the top prospects in the game and his unbelievable upside launched him to the top spot in our latest Top 100.
Caminero was a candidate to break camp with the Rays this spring but Tampa stuck to their usual route of waiting on top prospects until a little into the year. Unfortunately, Caminero dealt with two separate injuries within the first few months and struggled to fully settle back in.
This delayed his inevitable call up but he has now been active and healthy in Durham for nearly a month. In 53 total Triple-A games, Caminero has slashed .276/.331/.498 with 13 home runs on the year. However, Caminero is batting .304 with five home runs in 19 games since returning from his second IL stint on July 20th.
Now fully healthy, Caminero has earned a well deserved recall as he’ll have a shot to show his elite upside across the final stretch of the year in Tampa.
The Rays have fallen to 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and are likely beginning to plan for the 2025 season and beyond. This means that it’s time to let the young talent shine and that certainly includes Caminero.
One factor that will be interesting to monitor is Caminero’s rookie eligibility as he already has 34 MLB at-bats under his belt, putting him less than 100 away from losing eligibility. If he remains with Tampa the rest of the year, he’ll lose the chance to win Rookie of the Year for Tampa is 2025.
However, he’s simply too talented to be in the Minor Leagues at this point with the Rays finally giving in and bringing him back up.
With Isaac Paredes dealt at the deadline, Caminero has a clear path to being the third baseman of the future for the Rays and will be treated as such.
He instantly becomes one of the most exciting young players in MLB and will surely deliver some huge highlights during the final month and a half of the season.
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Elijah is a Chicago native with a passion for baseball from an early age. He is one of the social media managers for Just Baseball as…