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Rays Young Slugger Might Have the Best Power Swing in Entire MLB

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Oct 24, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The Tampa Bay Rays are on the cusp of being a playoff team once again in the American League. Despite winning only 77 games during the 2025 MLB regular season, there were a lot of positives to take away from their performance.

Arguably, the biggest takeaway was that their lineup now has a legitimate middle-of-the-order anchor. Third baseman Junior Caminero, one of the top prospects in baseball before graduating in 2024, broke out in a big way.

He certainly started living up to expectations this past summer. In his first full Big League campaign, he launched 45 home runs with 28 doubles. 110 RBI were recorded with an OPS+ of 131 and a slugging percentage of .535, which has put him in a position for some impressive accolades.

Named an All-Star for the first time in his career, he was also nominated for the Hank Aaron Award and is a finalist for the American League Silver Slugger Award at third base.

Only 22 years old, Caminero is just scratching the surface of his potential. It will be fun to see what he is capable of once he gets even more comfortable facing Major League pitching, especially because he looks to already possess one of the best power swings in the game.

Junior Caminero has incredible bat speed

As shared by Baseball Savant, the Rays star swings as hard as anyone in baseball. His average bat speed of 78.6 mph is truly elite. The only player who swings harder, on average, is Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates with 78.8 mph.

However, the two differ in a few major categories. Caminero not only swings hard, but he has an ideal attack angle and isn’t giving away at-bats with uncompetitive swings.

According to Baseball Savant, an ideal attack angle is between 5 and 20 degrees. Some stars, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., have well below average attack angles and still make it work.

But Caminero is well above average with 59.7% of his swings coming with an ideal attack angle. That is ranked 31st in the MLB. His 1,102 competitive swings put him at No. 27.

Junior Caminero isn't all-or-nothing hitter

The young Tampa Bay star has already figured out how to get the most out of his swing, never cheating himself at the plate. He is calculated in his approach with an above-average strikeout rate of 19.1% and a nearly league-average whiff rate of 24.7%.

Sometimes, a misconception could be created that players who are swinging hard are free swingers, only looking to hit home runs. But Caminero doesn’t fall into that category. He swings hard, but is still a tough out with his discipline at the plate.

However, there is another level for him to reach. His numbers could actually improve in the coming years if he can scale back his chase rate.

Showing improved pitch selection, which will come with experience, will lead to swinging at better pitches and doing even more damage than he already does.