The Tampa Bay Rays are calling up infielder Junior Caminero, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported Monday night.
Caminero is the most promising prospect in the Rays’ farm system and the most promising prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He made his major league debut in September 2023, but the 21-year-old has spent most of 2024 back at Triple-A Durham.
According to Topkin, Caminero is expected to spend most of his innings at third base, although he could also spend time as a designated hitter. He also has limited experience at shortstop and second base.
Overall, Caminero has a .274 batting average with 16 home runs, 39 RBI and an .859 OPS this season, but he only played in 59 games and was twice on the injured list due to left quad problems.
After returning from his rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on July 19, Caminero posted a .304 batting average and .857 OPS in his next 19 games.
Caminero batted .324 with 31 home runs, 94 RBI and a .976 OPS between High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery in 2023, skipping Triple-A entirely en route to his first MLB promotion. He batted .235 with one home run, seven RBI and a .631 OPS in seven big league appearances last fall, even earning a spot on the Rays’ roster for the AL Wild Card Series.
José Caballero and Curtis Mead have been splitting time at third base since the Rays sent Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs and Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline last month. The former has a .240 batting average with a .671 OPS, while the latter has a .235 batting average with a .567 OPS.
The Rays fell to .500 after Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Houston Astros. At 59-59, Tampa Bay is now 5.5 games out of the third and final AL Wild Card spot with less than seven weeks left in the regular season.
Game two against the Astros is scheduled to begin at 6:50 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Caminero is expected to join the Rays in time for that game, but they still need to make another move to make room on the active roster.
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