The dizzying rise of Elly De La Cruz, at the same time self-proclaimed as the fastest man in baseball, has led us to look at Junior Caminero, a young man who shines in the Minor League firmament.
Junior Caminero signed in 2019 with the Cleveland Indians, beginning his career in 2021 in the Dominican Summer League (.295-9-43). The Creole infielder was traded to the Rays in November of that year (Myers has gone through four organizations after that move and has not yet made his MLB debut). With everything and his good numbers, Caminero did not appear among the best 900 prospects in the Majors.
2022 put Junior on the baseball map, starting at Rookie and finishing at Class A Low (.314-11-51, 12 steals on both circuits). He finally appears on the prospect list, ranking 17th for the Rays in 2022, also receiving the MVP as Rookie of the team.
This season has allowed Caminero to reach a level outside the league. He beat Class A Advanced (.356-11-32 in 36 games). At the end of May he was promoted to Double A, imposing his dominance in that category (.303-5-20 in 30 games).
His impressive work has led him to the All-Star Futures game, a privilege many Minor Leaguers crave. From 17th as a prospect for the Rays he has risen to 16th overall in all of baseball. He has to end the year among the top 10 prospects in MLB Pipeline, as Elly De La Cruz (number 2), Bobby Miller (position 8), Gavin Williams (position 12) and Colton Cowser (prospect 14 recently raised by the Orioles) are in the Majors and will complete their delisting cycle.
So that we have an idea of ​​Caminero’s explosion, this young man of barely 20 years old, with two and a half seasons in the Minors, will wait until September to be selected in Lidom (the Lions will have the first lottery ticket), because he was promoted to Class to Low last year after the cut of players on August 1.
The irruption of Elly De La Cruz in the Majors has caught the attention of all of us, just as quickly has been the takeoff of Junior Caminero en route to the Major Leagues.