Caminero already showing off as Rays' new everyday third baseman

ST. PETERSBURG -- Junior Caminero's first call to the big leagues came as a complete surprise. He had just finished the season with Double-A Montgomery last September and was mentally set on heading home to the Dominican Republic when he was summoned to Tropicana Field instead.

Caminero said he wasn’t thinking about it this time, either, even with fans clamoring for his promotion from Triple-A Durham all season. Those calls intensified after the Rays dealt a couple key hitters at the Trade Deadline. And they escalated even further as Tampa Bay’s lineup has struggled through the past two weeks.

But Caminero claimed he wasn’t thinking about it until Durham manager Morgan Ensberg called him at 10 p.m. on Monday and delivered the news: Nearly 11 months after his debut, he was going back to the big leagues.

“At that point, I was in Triple-A, and that was my big leagues. That was my team. I was there to be focused on that team,” Caminero said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “But now that I'm up here, now I'm focusing on here. … I'm going to do everything I can to help this team out and just do my part.”

Officially recalled on Tuesday afternoon, Caminero made his season debut in the Rays' 3-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. He went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a 116.3 mph infield single in the fourth inning, but his defense was even more impressive.

Caminero made a few nice plays at third base, including a diving stab behind Shane Baz to end the second inning and a spinning stop and throw behind Drew Rasmussen to leave the bases loaded in the eighth.

“That was probably the highlight of the game. Really encouraging to see,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He got rid of the ball quick. His clock was really good. … Cami looked good. He looked good at the plate.”

Caminero traded out the No. 1 jersey he wore last year -- “because I was the No. 1 prospect,” he said, smiling -- for a No. 13 uniform, the number he’s preferred since he grew up idolizing Alex Rodriguez and Manny Machado.

The expectations are bound to be high for baseball’s No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, but the Rays simply want to let the 21-year-old slugger get comfortable at the game’s highest level. It’s not his responsibility to rescue a struggling lineup that has scored only 33 runs during the club’s 4-8 skid over the last 12 games, dropping it back below .500 at 59-60.

Unlike last year, when he was called up without a designated role, Caminero is set to be the club’s everyday third baseman the rest of the season.

“He's going to play a lot, and certainly, if he wants to provide a spark for our offense, we'll take it,” Cash said. “Last year was a pretty unique situation. … Like to think that he's a little bit better seasoned for it this year. And just to have a lane -- I don't think there was a clear lane for him last year to come in and play every day. He's going to have that now.”

Caminero’s return was slowed by a pair of left quad strains, which limited him to only 53 games in Triple-A this season. He missed two weeks in April, and the second injury kept him away from Durham for nearly two months before he was reinstated from the Minor League injured list on July 19.

“I think it was a good thing because I think it actually helped with my physical work,” Caminero said. “So I'm kind of glad it happened because it helped me focus on that more.”

The Rays began discussing the possibility of promoting Caminero near the end of July, president of baseball operations Erik Neander said, and they cleared his natural position at third base by trading Isaac Paredes to the Cubs on July 28. Before calling Caminero up, though, they wanted to let him play a few series’ worth of games to get reacclimated and get his timing at the plate.

In nine games this month, Caminero went 14-for-40 with three homers. He displayed the elite bat speed and loud contact that made him such a highly regarded prospect -- his first hit Tuesday was the Rays’ second-hardest-hit ball in the past three years, behind a 117.4 mph double by Yandy Díaz on July 11 -- as well as improved plate discipline and defense. They had seen enough.

“It’s a special skill and trait that few have that's elite, and it's valued greatly and appreciated greatly,” Neander said. “It's on us to make sure the entire player is ready for the Major League opportunity, and [we] believe that he's in a position now where he can benefit most by being here.”

The Rays realize it may not be a smooth transition for Caminero. Plenty of other top prospects have struggled to make the jump from Triple-A to the Majors this year, and Caminero’s experience in the upper Minors has been limited.

But he remains a key part of their future, with as much potential in his bat as any prospect in the game, and now is his chance to prove it.

“It was like, OK, the timing felt right -- as right as it could be,” Neander said. “I think you wanted to get him the reps and make sure he had enough underneath him coming back from injury, and then ideally, you time it right, where those last few games in Triple-A he's feeling pretty good about things -- and he should be feeling good about things after that. And we'll ride it out here.”