The Tampa Bay Rays were the best team in the AL all year long. They won an AL-leading 98 games and swept the high-powered 93-win New York Yankees in the ALDS in dominant fashion. Sure, their trademarks, pitching and defense, played a huge role, but the Rays' MVP leading up to the ALCS was undoubtedly Junior Caminero, who solidified himself among the game's best sluggers this season.
Caminero hit 42 home runs and drove in 101 runs while posting an .884 OPS. Given the starring role he played on a Rays team that was dominant, Caminero will likely be an MVP finalist. Unfortunately, the playoffs have been a different story for Caminero, and as a result, the Rays find themselves trailing the Cleveland Guardians two games to one in the ALCS. If he doesn't turn things around, the Rays' magical season might be over sooner than anyone expected.
Junior Caminero must get going for the Rays to win the World Series
Caminero wasn't awful in the ALDS, going 3-for-10 with a double, but he didn't hit a single home run after finishing the regular season tied for second place in the American League in that category. In the ALCS, Caminero's play has taken an even bigger step back, with him going 2-for-11 with seven strikeouts. He just went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the Rays' Game 3 loss.
And it's not as if Caminero is having quality at-bats, either. Credit the Guardians' pitching staff, but Caminero has been swinging at pitches nowhere near the zone, like in this at-bat against Daniel Espino in the sixth inning. He did the exact same thing in the ninth inning against Cade Smith. He's getting himself out.
Daniel Espino vs. Junior Caminero. Listen to the crowd pop. pic.twitter.com/QTeUsMEjMY
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) October 15, 2026
This version of Caminero won't get it done for the Rays. This is especially the case given the talent around him, or lack thereof.
The Rays are not built to withstand a Junior Caminero postseason slump
The Rays are a very good team. Their pitching staff is as good as any, and they can really defend. Scoring runs matters, though, and even with Caminero having an MVP-caliber year at the dish, the Rays were still just 22nd in the majors in home runs. Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz were the only other players in their lineup to hit more than 15 home runs. Cedric Mullins ranked fourth on the team in home runs in the regular season, and he hasn't started a single postseason game.
The top of the Rays' order with Diaz, Aranda and Caminero is fearsome, and Victor Mesa Jr. is a player worth paying attention to given how he's played, but who else scares you? Chandler Simpson's speed was on full display when he hit his two-run triple in Game 3, but he's just 3-for-15 in the playoffs and doesn't have a single home run in his big-league career, spanning nearly 1,000 at-bats. Does he scare you? Liam Hicks had a strong regular season, but he's just 3-for-18 in the playoffs. Guys like Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls are defensive stalwarts, but neither provides much value offensively.
If Caminero isn't hitting, all of a sudden, a lineup that's already very top-heavy, becomes even easier to pitch to. This reality explains why the Rays have scored just 18 runs in six postseason games, five fewer than a Yankees team that they swept. In fact, the Rays have scored fewer runs in the postseason than the Padres, Braves and White Sox as well, despite all three of those teams being eliminated in the Division Series. They've scored fewer runs than the Dodgers, a team that can't seem to hit a lick right now and is on the verge of elimination.
The Rays' pitching will keep them in games, but their offense has scored three runs or fewer in four of their six postseason games (and all three of their ALCS games) and hasn't scored more than five runs a single time. There's only so much a pitching staff can do if the offense can't score, as the Dodgers have learned.
If Caminero can't get going, it's hard to believe in the talent around him doing enough to hit a tough Guardians pitching staff. Tampa Bay's hopes rest on Caminero figuring it out and doing so immediately.
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