Cam-I-Am

Junior Caminero (TBR): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.

The ball flies off his bat. It’s a cliche you’ve heard a thousand times. Junior Caminero might be who the phrase was made for. In the top of the sixth inning of yesterday’s 4-0 win, Michael Lorenzen left a 1-0 slider over the plate that met Caminero’s bat and landed in the seats, 366 feet away from the plate, just to the right of Kauffman Stadium’s left field foul pole. The screaming line drive came on a vicious hack that registered a swing speed of 85.1. Moments earlier, Brandon Lowe homered with a swing precisely ten ticks slower. This is all to say you can probably count on one hand the number of players who can match Caminero’s bat speed.

If you look at his profile, you’ll notice at least two blemishes. He has a 15th percentile chase rate and hits more groundballs than you’d like. In that sense, he resembles Giancarlo Stanton. However, Stanton has posted a strikeout rate under 25% just once, back in 2017, when he was crowned the NL MVP. Caminero, meanwhile, is striking out at an 18.4% clip, just over a tick under league average.

His latest home run has put him in special company.

Junior Caminero is the 7th player with 20+ HR & 50+ RBI in his first 76 games of a season at 21 or younger (RBI official since 1920), joining:

2017 Cody Bellinger
2001 Albert Pujols
1996 Alex Rodriguez
1979 Bob Horner
1953 Eddie Mathews
1929 Mel Ott https://t.co/zlICGxtnnq

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 26, 2025

He is the youngest player to reach 20 home runs this season, and at the risk of being a jinx, he’s on pace to reach 40 home runs. And yet, it feels like he is just scratching the surface.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:

Zach McKinstry (DET): 3-4, 2B, 3B, R, 2 RBI, SB.

McKinstry banged a 2-2 sweeper from lefty reliever T.J. McFarland into the right field corner for a two-run triple, his eighth of the season, besting the five he pocketed last year in about 50 fewer plate appearances. Go figure. The 30-year-old, lefty-hitting utility man has been a solid bat this year, hitting .269 with a 118 wRC+, besting his career marks of .229 and 87, respectively.

Cam Smith (HOU): 2-3, RBI, SB.

Facing Orion Kerkering with deuces wild in the eighth, Smith plated what turned out to be the game-winning run on a liner to left just over the leap of Trea Turner. It’s been a lot of fun watching Smith bust out of the early-season slump. He’s been fantastic lately, this being his fifth multi-hit performance in June. Smith’s 72 Pitch Runs+ indicates he has faced a ton of tough pitches (100 is average), so it’s not too surprising that he didn’t hit the ground running. This is why you gotta try your best to be patient with rookies when possible.

Jonathan India (KCR): 2-4, 2B.

I want to be interested in India. He’s hitting leadoff, making good swing decisions (117 DV+), and puts the ball in play (114 Contact Ability+). But, man, no stolen bases, and this being his 19th extra-base hit makes him almost impressively boring, if that’s possible. Still, don’t completely ignore him; the second base, third base, and outfield eligibility is a little useful.

Josh Lowe (TBR): 3-4, 2B, RBI, SB.

J-Lowe has hit sixth in each of his last five starts; that’s perhaps a little bit of a letdown after his stint as the leadoff man from June 11th-19th. Still, that’s not the worst thing in the world, considering the Rays have been a productive offense, with an 110 wRC+ ranking eighth-best. More importantly, Lowe’s 22.4% strikeout rate is a huge improvement over last year’s 31.4%. Sure enough, a 111 Contact Ability+ represents a pretty good bump from last year’s 99. Let’s see if it sticks.

Michael Busch (CHC): 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.

Busch’s 13th dinger of the season came where else? Busch Stadium. And, yes, he is the first Busch to go yard there. The 380-foot nuke off Andre Pallante in the second was the first score of a 3-0 Cubs win. Sure, his splits against lefties are dreadful, but he has been otherwise terrific, hitting .269 with a 141 wRC+. The PLV machine supports the 27-year-old’s handiwork with a 119 Power+ and a 118 DV+. That’ll do quite nicely.

Agustín Ramírez (MIA): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Ramírez’s 12th dinger came on an 0-2 pitch from Hayden Birdsong Birddong, and it was a doozy, landing a few rows short of the Cola bottle in left (443 feet, 109.7 EV). The former Yankee prospect entered Thursday’s matinee at Oracle Park, hitting .234 with a 99 wRC+. Still, you have to take the good with the not-so-great as a catcher-eligible player in the lineup almost daily. And besides, 12 dingers from a rookie backstop in 235 plate appearances is exemplary. Ramírez cuts a rock-solid profile with a 105 Power+ and 112 Contact Ability+.

Rafael Devers (SFG): 3-4, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

Raffy blasted a 2-2 curveball from Janson Junk in the third for his 17th dinger of the year; however, the two-run jolt wasn’t enough to save his new club from a 12-5 loss to the Fish. The 437-foot blast to straightaway proves the 27-year-old lefty’s prodigious power is alive and well. However, he could be facing an uphill climb to reach his fourth 30-homer season, with Oracle Park having the second-lowest home-run rating for lefties (76) according to Statcast’s Normalized Rolling three-year Park Factors; Fenway Park is sixth-lowest (90). A Fun fact according to Sarah Langs: Yesterday was the first time three home runs flew over 435 feet in a single game at Oracle Park in the Statcast era. The third came from Kyle Stowers (440 feet, 110.4 EV).

Matt Wallner (MIN): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

Wallner’s seventh homer of the year came late in yesterday’s 10-1 blowout over Seattle, a 420-foot shot to left-center off righty reliever Zach Pop. Speaking of pop, deep leaguers chasing home runs might want to ensure Wallner isn’t on the wire; he’s settled in as Minnesota’s fifth hitter against righties while earning a 107 Power+ (85 BBE). He also had an impressive second act last season after returning to the bigs in early July.

Spencer Torkelson (DET): 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.

Torkelson kickstarted the Tigers’ 8-0 bludgeoning of the A’s with his 17th of the season, a solo shot against lefty Jeffrey Springs in the second (372 feet, 95.6 EV). The 25-year-old righty’s bat has been hibernating hard of late; he entered yesterday’s action, hitting .164 with two home runs across 18 games in June. Yeah, it’s probably safe to say his batting average is going to hurt, just a little bit. He has also ridden the pine twice over the Tigers’ past five games, both against right-handers. Nevertheless, he is one home run shy of Pete Alonso atop the first baseman leaderboard. His 119 wRC+ would be a career-high, besting the 108 he posted during his breakout season two years ago.

Brooks Lee (MIN): 1-4, HR, R, RBI, BB.

The 24-year-old switch-hitter has been a dynamo for the Twins lately, having gone hitless once since the calendar turned to June. He’s also gone yard four times this month; yesterday’s solo shot ignited an eight-run outburst in the sixth. Contact was Lee’s calling card as a prospect, but he hinted at power gains last year, swatting eight homers in 114 plate appearances with Triple-A Rochester. A glance at his PLV metrics reveals that the home runs are probably a mirage, considering his 87 Power+, which is about a standard deviation below league average. However, his 109 Contact Ability+ should support a solid batting average.

Trevor Larnach (12) also homered for the Twins in their blowout over the Mariners.

Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire | Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)