Red-hot Caminero set for second Home Run Derby

KANSAS CITY -- Junior Caminero spent the past week making nearly every at-bat his personal Home Run Derby. Why not make it official and sign up for the real thing?

Fresh off a history-making hot streak at the plate, Caminero on Tuesday announced his decision to participate in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 13, airing live on Netflix.

After finishing as the runner-up to Cal Raleigh in last year’s event at Truist Park in Atlanta, the Rays’ 22-year-old superstar is out to win it all during this year’s All-Star showcase.

Caminero, a finalist to be the American League’s starting third baseman in the Midsummer Classic, showed last year why he is made for an event like the Derby. He has elite power and an electric personality, and he’s never been one to shy away from the spotlight.

In the middle of a 45-homer campaign last season, Caminero fell just short of winning his first Derby. He made it to the finals but lost to Raleigh, 18-15. Still, he joined Evan Longoria (2008), Carlos Peña (2009) and Randy Arozarena (2023) as the only Rays players to take part in the Derby.

Caminero turns 23 years old on Sunday, so he will once again have a chance to become the youngest Home Run Derby champion. That title is currently held by Juan Gonzalez, who was 23 years and 265 days old when he won it in 1993.

Heading into last year’s Derby, Caminero wouldn’t make any promises about the outcome. He promised only one thing: “I’m going to put on a show.”

He tends to deliver on that promise.

People still tell the story of Caminero’s legendary batting-practice rounds at Rogers Centre in Toronto near the end of the 2023 season, shortly after he was called up straight from Double-A Montgomery. He sent so many titanic blasts into the upper decks that, when he finally left the cage, he received a standing ovation hours before the game even began.

You’ve seen it in the Dominican Winter League, too, when Caminero led Escogido to a title by crushing a 454-foot homer in Game 7 of the championship series then taking a lengthy trip around the bases. You’ve seen it on the World Baseball Classic stage, where he emerged as one of the most fearsome sluggers in a loaded Dominican Republic lineup.

And the Rays have seen it plenty. He quickly emerged as one of the Majors’ top power threats in 2025, and he’s been just as good -- and in some ways, much better -- this season.

Caminero has paired his incredible bat speed with greater plate discipline, turning himself into one of the game’s best all-around hitters while hitting .292/.384/.548 with 22 homers and 49 RBIs in Tampa Bay’s first 81 games.

But folks don’t want to see Caminero take a borderline pitch when they log into Netflix for the first-ever streaming Home Run Derby, right? With a new set of rules in place, they want to see dingers hit very hard and very far.

Good news, because Caminero tends to deliver on that front, too.

The man appropriately nicknamed “La Maxima” leads the Majors in average bat speed, with his 80 mph mark clocking in a full tick above the second-ranked hitter. Only three players have hit a ball harder than him this season, and only three have hit a ball farther than him this year.

Look no further for proof than Caminero’s most recent home run, a career-long 463-foot shot that reached the concourse beyond the center-field fence at Tropicana Field on Sunday. As veteran center fielder Cedric Mullins said afterward, “That was the type of ball that made everyone go quiet.”

He’s been doing that a lot lately. The reigning AL Player of the Week just hit .423 with seven homers, 15 RBIs, four doubles, four walks and eight runs in his past seven games.

He became the first player with at least seven homers and at least 15 RBIs in a six-game span since Kyle Schwarber in June 2021, and he went deep in four straight games to finish the week, a stretch that began with his first career three-homer performance last Thursday against the Royals.

All his accomplishments and accolades can make it easy to forget how young Caminero is, but consider this: His 74 career homers are the 24th most by a player before turning 23 since 1901 and third most by a Dominican-born player behind only Juan Soto (98) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (81).