ST. PETERSBURG -- Junior Caminero slugged his way into more elite company in the Rays’ 6-1 loss to the White Sox on Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Facing White Sox starter Erick Fedde with one out in the fourth inning of the series opener between first-place teams, Caminero unloaded on a full-count sinker above the strike zone and blasted it out to center field for his 30th home run of the season.
The 109.5 mph shot banged off the D-ring catwalk above the Trop’s turf, but it was projected by Statcast to be Caminero’s second-longest homer of his career, had the ballpark’s architecture not intervened, at 453 feet. The longest shot Caminero has hit in the Majors was a projected 463-foot poke to center field off Merrill Kelly at Tropicana Field on June 28.
The two-time All-Star third baseman placed himself in a club with some of the Rays’ greatest power hitters by reaching the 30-homer mark after going deep 45 times last year. Caminero is only the fourth player in franchise history to record multiple 30-homer seasons, joining Evan Longoria (four times), Carlos Peña (three) and Brandon Lowe (two).
Caminero also joined Peña as the only Rays hitters to have at least 30 homers in consecutive seasons, as Peña did so from 2007-09. He is also only the second Ray to hit his 30th home run before the end of July, as José Canseco had 31 in 1999.
It’s all the more impressive that Caminero has put up these numbers at such a young age, as he just celebrated his 23rd birthday on July 5. At 23 years and 26 days old, he became the sixth-youngest player with consecutive 30-homer seasons, by their age on the day of their 30th home run, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, behind the following:
• Miguel Cabrera, 2004-05, at 22 years and 143 days
• Albert Pujols, 2001-02, at 22 years and 223 days
• Jimmie Foxx, 1929-30, at 22 years and 287 days
• Eddie Mathews, 1953-54, at 22 years and 299 days
• Giancarlo Stanton, 2011-12, at 22 years and 301 days
Caminero had gone 12 games since his most recent homer on July 17 in Boston, the second-longest drought of his career behind a 15-game stretch from Sept. 1-15, 2024. Now, he is one of only six players in the Majors this season to reach the 30-homer milestone, joining the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (35), the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (33), the Rockies’ Hunter Goodman (31), the Yankees’ Ben Rice (31) and the Nationals’ James Wood (30).
Caminero’s solo shot off Fedde put the Rays on the board, but they were still trailing thanks to a separate display of power by the White Sox. Starter Nick Martinez allowed a career-high four homers in six innings.