Junior Caminero had been a big leaguer for 10 days the last time the Tampa Bay Rays played a postseason game. He was 20. He batted twice against the Texas Rangers in the 2023 AL wild card series, went 0-for-2 and watched his team get swept.The Rays scored one run in that series.They scored one the October before, too, when Cleveland swept them.Now Caminero is 23 and just hit 42 home runs, making him the first player in franchise history with two 40-homer seasons. When the AL East champion Rays host the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Saturday at Tropicana Field (6:30 p.m. ET, TBS), the kid who went hitless in 2023 will likely bat third.He's heard about the drought."It's baseball. It's baseball," Caminero told USA TODAY
Sports on Wednesday in an interview arranged by Mountain Dew Baja Blast. The brand named him its 2026 MLB Baja Blast Champion for hitting 21 home runs of 420-plus feet, the most in the majors this season, according to the company.The Rays haven't won a playoff game since Oct. 7, 2021, a 5-0 win over Boston in Game 1 of the ALDS. They've lost seven straight since.
The offense isn't the only reason, but it's a pretty big part of the Rays postseason struggles.
In their last four playoff games, against Cleveland in 2022 and Texas in 2023, the Rays went 23-for-143. That's hitting .161 in the most important games of the year. They scored two runs, hit one home run and struck out 37 times in the two 2023 games and the 15-inning loss to Cleveland alone. At one point they went 33 straight innings without scoring, the second-longest drought in postseason history.
Just one homer in four games.
Caminero hit 42 by himself this season he is a big reason there is confidence in St. Petersburg this October.
Caminero's fix isn't complicated. Play good baseball. Control what they can control. If they win, perfect. If they lose, he said, "another day is coming, so we gotta always lock in."Asked how the offense gets ready for the other team's best arms, he didn't bring up a scouting report."We don't have day off," he said. "We go to the stadium every single day."
That daily work is how he rebuilt his own at-bats. Caminero walked 41 times in 2025. This year, 79. His on-base percentage jumped from .311 to .360, and his average went from .264 to .276. The power stayed. He slugged .524 and hit the longest home run of July's Home Run Derby in Philadelphia, a 491-foot shot, before Jordan Walker beat him in the semifinals. A year earlier, he finished second to Cal Raleigh. He said he spent last offseason learning when to be aggressive. Swing at strikes. If they won't throw him one, take the base.Caminero worked on his throws to first, too. He still made 20 errors at third, two more than last season. He also played all 162 games there.His favorite swing of the year came Sept. 11 against Houston. Tied 1-1 in the ninth. Jonathan Aranda on second. Bryan Abreu on the mound. Caminero sent a 97 mph fastball into the left-field seats for a two-run walk-off that clinched a playoff spot. It was home run No. 40.Then he told the crowd, "Tampa! This is for you!"Tampa Bay hasn't always shown up in October for the Rays
The 2023 wild-card opener at the Trop drew 19,704, the smallest non-pandemic postseason crowd since 1919. The Rays spent 2025 at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa after hurricanes shredded the Trop's roof. This year they came home.Caminero remembers the empty seats. He said he's "100%" sure this time will look different, because the Rays gave people a reason to come."Trust me," he said.He calls this clubhouse a family and credits veterans like Yandy Díaz for keeping it that way.He plans to get to the ballpark early Saturday."I'm too excited for that," he said.His daughter, Valentina, was born last November. This will be her first October. Will she be at the Trop?"Oh yeah."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Junior Caminero believes Tampa Bay Rays can end MLB playoff skid
