TAMPA -- You’ve heard of “dad strength” in baseball. How about expectant dad strength?
On Saturday, Junior Caminero and his wife, Francesca, found out that they will soon be the parents of a baby girl. On Sunday, Francesca told her husband that he needed to dedicate this day’s game to his future daughter.
Caminero did that and then some. First, he changed his walk-up song to “Nokia” by Drake -- which has the repeated line of “baby girl” at the two-minute mark -- in honor of his daughter, whom he said will be named Valentina. Then, during the game, Caminero celebrated the upcoming birth in truly grand fashion at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
The Rays' star third baseman attacked the first offering from Cardinals reliever Matt Svanson in the fifth inning and crushed it out to right field for his second career grand slam. That swing proved crucial in a 7-2 win over the Cardinals in the rubber game of the series.
“I'm a very proud dad right now,” Caminero said via team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez.
The homer was Caminero’s 37th this season, moving him past Evan Longoria (36 in 2016) for the fifth-most dingers by a Rays player in a single season. Next up on that list is Logan Morrison and his 38 home runs in 2017. It was also Caminero’s 10th homer this month, and with 10 more long balls over Tampa Bay’s final 32 games, he will break the single-season franchise record of 46, which was set by Carlos Pena in 2007.
But why stop there? Designated hitter Christopher Morel thinks Caminero can go even bigger.
“I don't want to see him hit 40 or 45 [home runs]; I want to see him hit 50,” Morel said via Rodriguez.
“Thank you!” Caminero exclaimed from his locker, which is right next to Morel’s in the Rays’ clubhouse.
Caminero’s big blast proved to be well worth the wait for the Rays as the start of the game was delayed by four hours and 25 minutes due to inclement weather. Once play got underway, Caminero made thunderous contact in his first two at-bats. However, he had nothing to show for them, coming up with a 113.7 mph groundout in the first inning and a 112.8 mph lineout to center in the third.
But Caminero didn’t get frustrated. He knew he would get another opportunity to do damage shortly.
In the fifth, Tampa Bay loaded the bases on three walks against Cardinals lefty starter Matthew Liberatore, a former Rays top prospect who was traded to St. Louis in 2020 as part of a deal that included Randy Arozarena in the return. The third walk was to Chandler Simpson and represented Liberatore’s final pitch of the afternoon, as Cards manager Oliver Marmol went to Svanson for a right-on-right matchup against Caminero.
And on a day that featured a lot of waiting, Caminero didn’t wait for his pitch, slugging a center-cut fastball out to the opposite field.
“When the ball comes off his bat, it sounds different,” Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot said of Caminero. “A special player. We all came into the season joking with him about 30 [home runs], and now he’s on the cusp of 40. He’s very humble. He works hard. He’s talented, but he also has that grind to get better. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Pepiot breezed through five scoreless innings to pick up the win. He faced one batter over the minimum on just 63 pitches. Pepiot didn’t go any further as the club is trying to manage his innings the rest of the way. His 153 frames so far this year are 23 more than he threw in 2024. This start was also his 27th of the season, another personal high.
Pepiot said he didn’t know that he would be on a short leash on Sunday, nor does he want to know, because he doesn’t want to have the thought of any specific restrictions in the back of his mind while competing on the mound. But he acknowledged that there have been conversations about limiting his workload.
“They are looking out for me, and that's something that I’m very happy about, because it just means they care about me,” the right-hander said.