Last Updated on September 12, 2026 by Matt Musico
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero’s rise to becoming one of MLB’s premier power hitters has been fast and furious.
The right-handed slugger mashed his 40th homer of the year on September 11. That in itself is a huge moment, but he made it extra special in a couple of ways. The tater came in walk-off fashion for the Rays, and it also punched Tampa Bay’s first ticket to the postseason since 2023.
JUNIOR CAMINERO WALKS IT OFF@RAYSBASEBALL HEADS TO THE POSTSEASON! pic.twitter.com/tkDpYi0OEe
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2026
This is exactly the kind of young superstar the Rays need to anchor their lineup.
Caminero made his MLB debut in September 2023, won’t be arbitration-eligible until 2028, and is under team control through 2031. Tampa Bay should try locking up the third baseman with a long-term extension sooner rather than later.
Junior Caminero’s Premier Power Could Be Historic
Between 2023 and 2024, Caminero racked up seven homers and 25 RBI across 50 big-league games. But since becoming an everyday player in 2025, he can’t stop hitting homers. And with the above walk-off tater under his belt, the slugger has racked up consecutive 40-homer seasons before his 24th birthday (he turned 23 years old this past July).
He’s already in rare air, too. Entering 2025, there had been only one 40-homer season in Rays franchise history (Carlos Peña, 46 in 2007). Now, there are three occurrences, and Caminero owns two of them.
While the American League East division title is still up for grabs, what Caminero does at the plate down the stretch will ultimately determine how historic his performance has been. He’s got not one, but two different home run records in his sights at this point.
Peña’s single-season Rays record of 46 homers in 2007 is in danger for the second straight year. And this is a year removed from Caminero nearly passing him in 2025 (he finished with 45 taters). That’s a tall order with only about two weeks’ worth of games left on the schedule. But even if he can’t make that happen, there’s another record well within reach for the right-handed slugger.
On August 30, Just Baseball mentioned on Instagram that Caminero was approaching Eddie Mathews’ record for the most homers during a player’s age-21 and 22 seasons. The Hall of Fame third baseman slugged 87 homers from 1953-54 for the Milwaukee Braves (47 in 1953 and 40 in 1954).
At the time of this writing, Caminero has hit 85 taters during this time (he’s slugged three more since Just Baseball made this initial observation). So, he needs to launch three more homers to take over the top spot on this specific leaderboard. Do you think he’ll get it done before the final out of Game 162 is recorded?
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