The Tampa Bay Rays have decided that the future is now. Following their 6-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Monday night, the Rays have decided to call up top prospect Junior Caminero, the number-two ranked prospect according to MLB.com, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
One would assume that Caminero will become the Rays' everyday shortstop in no time. Tampa Bay is currently starting Taylor Walls at shortstop; while Walls had himself a solid night at the plate on Monday against the Astros, going 2-3, he has been worth negative WAR (-0.6) this season, per Fangraphs. The 21-year-old Caminero should walk into the Rays' lineup from day one of his return to the big leagues.
Junior Caminero's first stint in the majors did not go according to plan. The Rays called Caminero up last September and gave him a cup of coffee in the big leagues, but he slashed .235/.278/.353 in 36 plate appearances — not warranting a permanent place on the major-league roster quite yet.
Caminero has been plying his trade in the minors for the entirety of 2024. In his first taste of Triple-A action, the 21-year-old has played well, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 34 runs while putting up a slash line of .276/.331/.498. He immediately comes in and gives the Rays lineup more pop, which they sorely need following the deadline-day trade of Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs and the continued legal issues of Wander Franco.
Junior Caminero, the Rays franchise shortstop that was promised?
Over the past decade, it never seemed as though the Rays were going to have some troubles filling in the shortstop position. To begin the 2020s, they had Willy Adames manning the position. Adames had his fair share of issues at the plate, namely his strikeout woes and meh on-base skills, but he was a positive contributor on both the plate and on the field.
The Rays then had Wander Franco knocking on the door, and they decided to trade Adames away as a result. Franco generated much excitement due to his production on the field at such a young age — he was worth 9.6 WAR in just 265 career MLB games. Alas, Franco ran into some troubles with the law due to an inappropriate relationship with a minor, and his big-league career appears to be over despite being just 23 years of age.
But now, the Rays have another top shortstop prospect in their pipeline in Junior Caminero. Will he finally be the one to lead the team to great heights?
Caminero has moved to third base on a more full-time basis in 2023, but his bat would provide a ton more value at shortstop. Moreover, the Rays have a defensive specialist in Jose Caballero who's currently making third base his home in the MLB. Perhaps the Rays will move Caballero to shortstop to accommodate Caminero's arrival.
What makes Caminero quite a tantalizing prospect is his plus-plus power that would make any talent evaluator salivate. His power rates at a 70 on the 20-80 grading scale, making him a candidate to eventually hit 30 to 40 home runs in an MLB season.
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