Hot Rods’ Caminero named SAL Player of Month
Published 2:45 pm Thursday, May 4, 2023
- Bowling Green Hot Rods third baseman Junior Caminero (16) bats in the Hot Rods’ 7-2 loss in the first game of a doubleheader against the Asheville Tourists at the Bowling Green Ballpark on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. (Grace Ramey/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)
Bowling Green Hot Rods infielder Junior Caminero has been named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for April.
He led the league in seven different offensive categories through the first month of the season, earning the title of the best hitter in the SAL during his first 19 games of the season.
Caminero slashed .392/.438/.743, leading the league in average (.392), runs (20), hits (29), total bases (55), home runs (seven), slugging percentage (.743), and on-base plus slugging (1.181). He also knocked in the second most RBIs (23), while collecting 10 multi-hit games, one of which was a five-hit performance on opening day against the Tourists in Asheville, N.C.
Coming out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Caminero was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians in 2021. Cleveland received right-hander Tobias Myers in exchange for the 19-year-old infielder.
After landing with the Rays organization, he split time between the FCL and the Charleston RiverDogs last season, hitting .314 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs over 62 games.
Caminero and the rest of the Hot Rods next return to Bowling Green Ballpark on Tuesday as the Hot Rods start a six-game series with the Hickory Crawdads.
