Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Junior Caminero quietly put up MVP numbers for the Rays

By Zachary Cariola | Last updated Sep 30, 2025 9:29 AM ET

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero has quietly had an MVP-type season amid the feats of New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

Caminero is an emerging star, with the potential to win multiple MVP awards, but is on a team in the Rays which doesn’t get national attention.

Coming to the big leagues at age 19 and playing in his first full season at 21, Caminero became the third player in baseball history to hit 40+ home runs (45) in his age-21 season, joining Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews (47 in 1953) and Ronald Acuaa Jr. (41 in 2019), according to StatMuse.

Caminero has quietly put up numbers this season

While nobody was looking, Caminero quietly made a name for himself. In 154 games (148 at third base), Caminero hit .264/.311/.535 with an OPS of .846 and OPS+ of 131, all career highs.

Caminero’s 45 home runs were good enough for third in the American League, with his 110 RBI ranking fifth and his slugging percentage sixth, a point behind Shea Langeliers of the Athletics (.536).

Junior Caminero slugged 45 homers and drove in 110 runs in his first full season

Not bad for a 22-year-old! pic.twitter.com/QpsQgC21MD
— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2025

Could Junior Caminero be a 60 home run hitter?

When Raleigh hit his 60th home run, he became only the seventh player to do so, so naturally, the question is, who will be next?

Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies has the potential to do so, as he fell four short (56), but Caminero might have the next-best chance, and he expressed his confidence recently to MLB.com’s Adam Berry.

“If I don't do it this year, this is just my first full season, so it'll come. I know I'm capable of hitting 50, 60,” Caminero said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “If it's not this year, God willing, I have more years to come, and one of those years it's going to happen.”

Displaying this level of power at such a young age, Caminero could hit 60 home runs and even break the American League home run record (62 by Aaron Judge in 2022) in the next couple of seasons.

Zachary Cariola

My name is Zachary Cariola and I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. My areas of expertise are MLB, NBA, and NFL. You can find my other work on Southside Showdown from FanSided and at Chicitysports where I cover all Chicago sports. When not watching sports, I love spending time with my family and learning history.

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