Rays promote top prospect 3B Junior Caminero

The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday called up rookie third baseman Junior Caminero, who is ranked the No. 2 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.

It's the second call-up for Caminero, 21, who made his major league debut on Sept. 23, 2023. He was 8-for-34 with a double, home run and seven RBIs in seven regular-season games and 0-for-2 in two games against the Texas Rangers in the American League Wild Card Series.

The native of the Dominican Republic was batting .274 with 16 home runs, 39 RBIs, a .337 on-base percentage, .521 slugging percentage and .859 OPS in 59 games this season for the Rays' Triple-A Durham and Florida Complex (Rookie) League teams.

In a corresponding move Tuesday, the Rays optioned infielder Curtis Mead to Triple-A Durham.

Caminero, who had been slowed by a pair of left quad strains, went 14-for-40 with three home runs in his last nine games for Durham.

"We're really excited about what we're seeing," Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander told 95.3 FM WDAE on Friday. "The at-bats since he's come back (from the injured list) have looked really good. The defense has made progress.

"It's just a matter of wanting to make sure that, when he comes here, he's in position to have success -- because it is much, much harder to hit here than it is in Triple-A."

Mead, 23, batted .238 (29-for-122) with one homer and seven RBIs in 38 games for Tampa Bay.

--Field Level Media