Junior Caminero Stamps All-Star Candidacy With Career Game
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Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero has a chance to make franchise history this year.
The Rays have never had a player start back-to-back All-Star Games. After he was picked as the replacement for Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez in 2025, Caminero is knocking on the door of being the American League All-Star Team starting third baseman in 2026.
He is currently leading the voting at the position in Phase 1, just ahead of Toronto Blue Jays slugger Kazuma Okamoto. They are very likely to advance to Phase 2, where voters will select one of them as the AL starting third baseman.
If there were fans on the fence about who to select, what Caminero did against the Kansas City Royals in their series finale should sway some of their selections in his direction. With Phase 1 voting just about to conclude, he saved some fireworks to solidify his standing.
Junior Caminero sets career high hitting three home runs
In what ended up being a 13-2 victory for Tampa Bay, their star slugger led the way and set the tone right off the bat in the best game of his career. He hit a two-run home run off Seth Lugo in the bottom of the first inning, but that was only the beginning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, in his third at-bat of the game, Caminero took Lugo deep again, this time with a solo home run. After striking out looking in the seventh inning, the star slugger came to bat for the last time in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Junior Caminero has his first career 3-homer game! https://t.co/R9UQB94FJb pic.twitter.com/feGyIPFQqp
— MLB (@MLB) June 25, 2026
With Jonathan Aranda and Nick Fortes aboard, and second baseman Tyler Tolbert on the mound, Caminero went deep for a third time, sending the ball into the catwalk for a true moonshot to cap off his afternoon.
It is the first time in his career that he has hit three long balls in a single game, as he continues to prove why he is viewed as one of the premier young power hitters in the sport.
He now has 19 home runs on the season, as he is starting to find his power stroke once again. His change in approach, exhibiting more patience at the plate, is working.
It’s a Multi-HR game for Junior Caminero. 17th and 18th on the year.
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) June 25, 2026
1st: 103.9 MPH EV I 372 FT
2nd: 107.5 MPH EV I 387 FT
He’s now slashing .283/.376/.509 with a 142 wRC+. He’s starting to find the long ball again. Such a special player. pic.twitter.com/Z1ytOjDgbG
Knowing that he won’t chase balls outside of the zone as frequently, already drawing more walks in 2025 than he had in 2026, opposing pitchers have to be in the zone more and he is punishing the ball when he sees an offering that he likes.
He now owns a .285/.377/.519 slash line and is certainly deserving of a starting spot on the AL All-Star Team.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. Previously, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.