Tampa Bay Rays Emerging Star Predicted To Make Meteoric Rise Up Player Rankings

A rising star for the Tampa Bay Rays is expected to rapidly ascend the player rankings in the near future.

Mar 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays third base Junior Caminero (13) celebrates after he doubles during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays were one of the least represented teams on ESPN’s Top 100 players entering the 2025 season.

Starting pitcher Shane McClanahan, who came in at No. 67, was the only Rays player who made the cut. The only teams that had zero players on the list were the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies.

It isn’t too much of a surprise that Tampa Bay is so under-represented on a list like this. They are constantly churning over their roster because of financial restraints.

Keeping high-end talent is not easy, but their ace won't be alone for too long on top 100 lists.

One player to keep an eye on is third baseman Junior Caminero.

The 21-year-old made his MLB debut near the end of the 2023 campaign on Sept. 23, receiving 23 plate appearances. He played in 47 games with 177 plate appearances in 2024, exceeding rookie limits.

Heading into 2025, he is the everyday starter at the hot corner and possesses the kind of talent to make a meteoric rise up a top 100 player list.

That is exactly what Jeff Passan of ESPN (subscription required) is predicting will happen.

Caminero was his selection as the player who could make the biggest jump on the list next year, and he doesn’t believe it will be because he barely sneaks onto it.

“Seeing as Junior Caminero isn't on the list, he's got a chance to debut as a top-25 player in his first full season with the Tampa Bay Rays. The power, the plate discipline, the swing decisions -- it's all there to cement Caminero's status as one of the game's rising stars and the key to Tampa Bay's aspirations to contend in the AL East,” Passan wrote.

It is impossible to not get excited about a player who was a top-four-ranked prospect unanimously across the industry heading into the 2024 campaign.

He was excellent in the minor leagues, producing a .307/.374/.548 slash line with 67 home runs, 43 doubles, eight triples and 20 stolen bases. There is legitimate middle-of-the-order All-Star-level run-producing potential based on his skill set.

His discipline and strike zone recognition are elite for a player his age, as he had an 18.4% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate in the minor leagues; both numbers are better than the MLB averages of 22.7% and 8.4%.

As he gains more experience at the Major League level, those traits should translate.

The strikeouts already have, with a career rate of 21.1%, as he is already improving his eye and plate discipline.

Already hitting the ball harder in 2025 than previously in his career with an average exit velocity of 90.9 mph, it is only a matter of time until it is all put together and the production begins to spike.