ST. PETERSBURG — Junior Caminero also digs the long ball.
The joy and satisfaction he gets from unleashing his ferocious swing on a defenseless baseball and watching it soar is obvious.
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During a recent jaw-dropping batting practice display, he hit one off the 2008 championship banner that hangs high above left field at Tropicana Field, two into the second deck and another off the C-ring catwalk.
Friday, against the White Sox, he launched a 453-foot blast to left-center off the D-ring catwalk, his majors most-matching third time surpassing 450 feet (joining Kyle Schwarber), and reaching the 30-homer plateau for the second straight season.
Without getting into all the lists, suffice to say Caminero — who turned 23 on July 5 — is doing things few big-leaguers have ever done at that age. (And at any age in Rays history.)
While not as showy or Instagram friendly, how Caminero has matured and improved overall at the plate actually may be more impressive.
“He’s done a really good job of understanding who he is as a hitter,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He knows how special and how talented he is about knocking the ball out of the ballpark to all fields. But he also has learned, which I would say better this year than maybe last, is the quality of the at-bat — taking the walk, waiting for himself to get into a little bit more of a hitter’s count, and not trying to expand and do too much.”
Some of that is obvious, such as Caminero doubling his walk rate from last season, or salvaging an at-bat by slapping a single or even making a productive out.
Some not as much, such as becoming more selective on chasing pitches outside the strike zone, cutting down overall but also hitting a majors-most 11 for homers.
“The pace that he’s learning to become a complete hitter is just another thing that we didn’t anticipate happening this year,” hitting coach Chad Mottola said. “It’s these conversations I have with him daily, thinking it will take years to make sense, and then he puts it to action that night. …
“That’s the part that you just marvel at each day — the growth. Defensively, baserunning, leadership, all these things you can lump in the same category as a complete hitter now.”
His teammates are also impressed.
“The maturation process that’s happened over these last couple of years is unbelievable,” veteran starter Drew Rasmussen said. “At 23, if he was up there swinging at everything, that wouldn’t surprise anyone. But the maturity to say, ‘Hey, in certain situations, I can’t force positive results by going out there and trying to do too much, I actually have to sit back, allow the game to come to me, and that’s what maximizes my productivity,’ for him to get that at such a young age is unbelievable.
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“I’m sure it’s frightening in other uniforms, but it’s one of those things that we’ve been blessed to watch and just see how he’s continued to grow over the years.”
Also, Rasmussen said, “He’s always had the power. He’s always had pretty good bat-to-ball abilities, and now you’re seeing him force pitchers to throw balls in the strike zone. Brother, that’s one heck of a skill-set.”
Plus, Caminero has done much of this hitting third, providing protection for Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda, and without the benefit of much help behind him.
“He’s handled that really well, and not expanded trying to do more,” Mottola said.
Teams may soon resort to more extreme strategy to limit the damage Caminero can do.
Texas manager Skip Schumaker said Caminero was “a very, very talented player” and their hope was “you get through three games without him beating you multiple times.”
He also said that with runners on base “I’m not scared to walk him either.”
And the Rangers did exactly that Thursday, calling for an intentional walk when Caminero came up and got a first-pitch ball with runners on first and second with two outs — in the third inning. (It worked, as Cedric Mullins grounded out.)
“That caught us a little bit off guard in the sense of ‘wow, this is maybe the new normal,’” Mottola said. “So it’s one of these things that the league will dictate some things also.”
Caminero considers his development an ongoing process.
“It’s a good thing — I’m trying to be selective, I’m not trying to chase. I’m not trying to put myself in bad situations,” he said via team interpreter Kevin Vera. “It’s really important to just keep being selective moving forward and just keeping an eye for good pitches, pitches that I can use and pitches that I can hit.”
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