ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The bat flip that won a Dominican championship in January 2025 went viral. Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has called him the future of the sport. He hit 45 home runs in his age-21 season and came up just one shy of a franchise record.
All that did not go to Junior Caminero’s head. Instead it taught him to keep things smaller.
“I feel more humble,” the Tampa Bay Rays’ slugger said before Tuesday night’s game against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. “The more I play, the more I learn, the more I feel humble.”
That must be getting hard as Caminero is emerging as the face of an organization that has hunted for a face for decades. He has earned his second All-Star nod and is heading into the Home Run Derby Monday night for the second straight year (he finished second in 2025).
The native of the Dominican Republic hit 78 home runs before he turned 23 on July 5, and last year’s 45 homers were the second most any hitter has ever hit in an age-21 season, behind only Eddie Mathews’ 47 in 1953. He's one of five players in history to finish a 45-homer season before turning 23, joining Mathews, Johnny Bench, Joe DiMaggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Three are in the Hall of Fame. The other is still playing.