Junior Caminero Just Did Something No 22-Year-Old Has Done Since 1900

The Tampa Bay Rays have a problem. It’s the kind of problem every team wants. Junior Caminero is absolutely on fire, and he’s now sitting on a piece of MLB history that nobody else his age can claim.

Tuesday night in Kansas City, Caminero went deep again. That makes eight home runs in his last seven games. That’s the most homers in a seven-game span for any player 22 or younger since at least 1900. Not decades. Over a century.

MLB.com’s Sarah Langs did the math on X, and the numbers are absurd. Caminero has homered in five straight games. That ties him with Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018), Brian McCann (2006), and Jack Clark (1978) for the longest home run streak at his age in the modern era. But those eight bombs in seven games? That’s entirely his own record.

Let that sink in. Eight homers in a week. For a 22-year-old. In a league where pitchers adjust fast and slumps hit harder. Caminero is making it look simple.

He’s already committed to the 2026 Home Run Derby in Philadelphia, and nights like this make that feel less like a fun sideshow and more like a warning shot to the rest of the field. If he keeps this up through July, the Derby might be a coronation.

What’s changed at the plate?

The Rays have been cautious with Caminero’s development. He’s always had the raw power and the swing that scouts drool over. But consistency has been the question. Lately, the answer has been emphatic. He’s adjusted his stance, opening up more, and the result is harder contact more often. It’s not just home runs. It’s loud outs too. The kind of at-bats that make you stop what you’re doing and watch.

That matters for Tampa Bay. They’re not exactly cruising in the standings. Every win matters. Tuesday’s game against the Royals was a comfortable one for the most part. The Rays carried a 10-4 lead into the ninth. But Caminero’s homer was the exclamation point. The kind of moment that tells you a young player has arrived, not just as a prospect but as a problem for opposing pitchers.

There’s a long season ahead. Pitchers will adjust. They always do. But right now, Junior Caminero is swinging a bat that looks heavier than anyone else’s, and he’s writing his name into the record books one game at a time.