ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- After the Tampa Bay Rays made another uncharacteristic blunder on Saturday night to continue their strangely sloppy start to the World Series, the television broadcast caught a heated Junior Caminero yelling in Tampa Bay's dugout.
His team was playing poorly against the Milwaukee Brewers for the second straight night. The Rays were giving away outs to a team that pounces on mistakes. By the end of the sixth inning, a 4-0 first-inning Rays lead had evaporated. The frustration was mounting. Caminero felt the need to speak up.
"I was trying to help the team, trying to keep their heads up," Caminero said in Spanish. "Encouraging them."
The fiery motivation attempt did not flip the momentum. That 4-0 lead became a 5-4 defeat as the Rays fell in the series 2-0 with Game 3 scheduled for Monday night at Tropicana Field. But it was a public display of an evolution that has taken shape behind the scenes, of a budding superstar emerging as the 23-year-old leader of a club four wins from its first championship.
"Junior is a leader by example," Rays second baseman Richie Palacios said. "He mostly just goes out there and does his thing. But what's exciting is when he does open his mouth, it's always useful, and it's in the time that we need it."
It was not the first time Caminero spoke up this postseason. Earlier this month, he was the only player to address the room during a hitters' meeting ahead of the American League Championship Series. He told his teammates he believed in them. He told them it was time to show the world who they are. The message resonated.
"When he spoke in that meeting, it was a little surprising but nice because he hasn't been a vocal leader," Palacios said. "We never asked him to do that. We have other guys that do that, but it just showed his love for the game and his love to win."
"He's always let his play talk, but we're seeing him use his words a little bit more often," Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola said before Game 2.
The Rays went on to defeat the Cleveland Guardians in six games to reach their third Fall Classic in franchise history. While mostly a frustrating series for Caminero, he came through when it mattered most, cranking a huge two-run shot off the foul pole in Game 6 for his first career postseason home run. He followed the swing with a monumental celebration and trot around the bases that clocked in at just under 40 seconds inside a frenzied Tropicana Field.
For his coaches and peers, finding his voice in the clubhouse has marked another step in Caminero's maturation.
"That has come to me naturally, trying to talk when it comes out of my heart to help the team as much as I can," Caminero said. "Despite a lot of veterans being here, I try to be able to raise my hand and say, 'Can I talk?' And then I just share my thoughts with them."
Despite his age, teammates already consider Caminero a leader for the way he plays the game. They admire all his work behind the scenes and his every-day presence; he was one of seven major leaguers to appear in 162 games this season. He plays hard.
Producing helps. Caminero is already one of the sport's best power hitters. His total of 87 home runs the past two seasons ranks second in the majors behind only Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. He has unmatched bat speed, an extraordinary ability to absorb information and a knack for clutch moments. He was just 19 years old when he debuted in 2023, playing in seven games before spending most of 2024 in the minor leagues.
That winter, in the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League, he smashed a 454-foot go-ahead home run for Leones del Escogido in Game 7 of the championship series against Tigres del Licey, his team's bitter rival. He celebrated like he would two years later in the ALCS -- by taking nearly a minute to round the bases.
Mottola was alerted to the Dominican series blast by a flood of text messages. He was not surprised. He said he has never seen a hitter like Caminero in his 35 years in professional baseball. How quickly he has caught up to major league pitching. His unconventional overstride, the way his hands still go up and down as he stretches. Mottola said those are mechanics that would never be taught, but Caminero's ability to repeat them with such success convinced the Rays to let Junior be Junior.
"I always go back to the first time I saw him," Mottola said. "He got called up in Toronto -- keep in mind, he was not in major league camp so I had not seen him, I had only heard about him -- and then he took his BP in Toronto and got a standing ovation from the fans in Toronto. It's another example of something I've never seen before in baseball. You realize this is a generational talent."
The right-handed-hitting Caminero established himself last season when he belted 45 home runs with a 130 wRC+. The Rays, renting a minor league stadium in Tampa from the New York Yankees while Tropicana Field was repaired in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, finished eight games under .500. But not all was lost. They had a franchise cornerstone.
In the Rays' return to The Trop this year, Caminero cracked 42 home runs with a 142 wRC+, tied for ninth in the majors. His batting average improved 12 points from 2025. His on-base percentage -- thanks to 38 more walks -- rose 49 points. Defensively, he improved drastically as the season progressed after an ugly start in April and May. He is expected to finish second in AL MVP voting to Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez. Tampa Bay has never had a player land in the top five.
"People don't see what happens behind the scenes, how much Junior works, how much Junior wants to -- not be good, because he is good -- he wants to be big in this game," Rays bench coach Rodney Linares said in Spanish during the Rays' celebration after winning the AL pennant. "And I think he has all the ingredients to be one of the best players in the major leagues."
Those ingredients have made Caminero the type of top-tier star the Rays have rarely had on their side during their 29-year history. History suggests he won't be on their side for long. Unless MLB's economic system vastly changes in the next collective bargaining agreement, the Rays at some point could decide he is too expensive to keep. Caminero has already expressed his desire to be compensated at the level of Juan Soto or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Rays, whose payroll this season ranked 28th in the majors, have never invested nearly that much in a player, though their planned move to Tampa in 2029 could change the calculus.
For now, Caminero is under team control through the 2030 season and his teammates get to marvel at his prowess.
"You're taking BP with him and he's hitting balls 200 feet farther than anybody else," Rays infielder Ben Williamson said. "I'm going up to take my round of BP and two swings into my round, the last ball he hit finally lands. Just to see the potential that's there and how good he already is, he's just going to keep getting better. It really is special."
Caminero's batting practice shows continued in Milwaukee. On Thursday, during the Rays' workout before the start of the World Series, he blasted multiple balls off the videoboard overlooking center field. One of the missiles damaged it. On Friday, before Game 1, he walloped a ball that hit the Fox set desk at the top of the second deck in left-center field.
In Game 1 on Saturday, he crushed a 112.7-mph line drive to center field for a double. But the Rays lost that game as Caminero went 1-for-3 with a walk, and they dropped Game 2 with him going 1-for-4 with an RBI.
The Rays were uncharacteristically prone to miscues on defense and on the basepaths in both defeats. Outside of the first inning in Game 2, they tallied two runs in 17 innings. To avoid an 0-3 hole, they'll need to play cleaner baseball and generate more offense against the Brewers' stingy pitching staff. For them, it starts with a budding superstar taking the reins of a franchise deep into October.
"The way he's able to step up to this moment just turning 23, and now we're going two years into it, is different," Mottola said. "There's some guys that play 10 years that take that long to get there. He's doing all these things in the moment."