Junior Caminero SPEARHEADS Tampa Bay Rays’ Silver Slugger Chances

Junior Caminero SPEARHEADS Tampa Bay Rays’ Silver Slugger Chances

Three Rays nominated for the Silver Slugger Award, but only one will take it home. You are Locked on Rays, your daily Tampa Bay Rays podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Locked OnRays podcast. Locked on Rays is part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. and we are Kevin and Ulisses and we are lifelong Rays fans who have been podcasting about the Tampa Bay Rays since 2019. Later on today’s show, we close out the week with a fun Friday episode which includes baseball trivia and Name That War. In a few minutes, the Rays have three silver slugger nominees and they actually could have had a fourth if not for injury. But to start, Junior Camero has the best shot among race players to win a silver slugger this year. And we’re going to talk about all of that thanks to Fan Duel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. You got it right, Kev. Junior Camo has the best shot to win out of the three rays. uh for the silver slugger award in 2025. Three finalists, but Junior Camdo has the best shot. And I think if we just separate each one into their own little tournament in their own little buckets, right? Um let’s start with Below at second base. I This has been one of the the best seasons, if not the second best season that uh Brennan Laauo has ever had. and he had to have it based on the injury history was like when are we going to see a quasi full complete season from Brandon La where when are we going to see 30 plus homers from him in a single season and it came and it came true in 2025 unfortunately it was not a a season where the Rays were able to go to the playoffs but having said that the problem is who he’s running against because it’s Jazz Chisum and we know who Jazz Chisum is not notori variety, personality, pinstrip allure. He had a 3030 season and of course playing the in the New York market. Uh, everybody knows who Jazz Chisum is. And so I think that detracts unfortunately from a low-key personality like Brendan Laauo. when you’re putting in those two names, people are e easier to flick the jazz chism uh square than the than than the be loud. Yeah, I’m with you on that. Now, the silver slugger, correct me if I’m wrong, it is voted by managers and coaches. So, maybe that gives a little bit of a boost to some extent for Brandon L. Maybe there’s some managers and coaches that like his levelheaded, doesn’t get too high or too low personality where Jazz Chisum can be um he can be upsetting to some people, you know, might be upsetting to to other teams. But I think everything that you mentioned uh is likely to give him the edge. And uh I don’t have it up in front of me, but the number of games that Jazz played compared to Brandon Laauo, um you wonder, you know, maybe some managers or coaches didn’t get an opportunity to watch Brandon Laauo this season uh due to him being on the shelf and um that might hurt his chances in some way, shape, or form. If there was just a separator in the home run total between Below and Jazz, I would feel more confident about Beo. having the same home runs. I feel like that other stuff is going to take care of that, unfortunately. Now, let’s talk about Yandi Diaz, the other finalist. Um, he is only one of three guys, look at this stat, who hit in 2025 300 for average and 25 home runs. Now, the the other guy is Aaron Judge. Pretty good company. you’re feeling pretty good about the silver slugger in the DH position for Yandi except that the other guy that did it was George Springer who is also a finalist for the DH um silver slugger. And when you look at the slashline that Springer had, it was like he was back in Houston, man. 309 399 560 and 959 OPS. That’s more than 100 points above Yandi’s OPS. Yandi had a fine season, but I think he loses his battle. George Springer played like he was in a contract here or something. Uh, and to go back for a second, uh, interestingly, Jazz Chisum played fewer games than Brandon L by just a couple. They both played about 130 games, but I think for the other affforementioned reasons, I uh would presume that Jazz Chisum would get the edge there. And with Yandi Diaz, like never in my right mind would I thought that Yandi Diaz would have a combination of 325 homers. I would think one or the other of like he hits 300 and gives you 18 or 19 homers. So he really put it all together in an amazing way. But George Springer, I mean what he did speaks for itself. So, um, really, you know, Brandon Laauo and Yandi, again, kudos on a terrific season. Really kudos to the Rays for having three silver slugger nominees in one season. I mean, we’d have to go back and look into the archives to see like how often, if ever, that happened. I mean, maybe the the Longo Pñena and maybe Crawford Upton or something like that. But it seems like that’s far between. This is not normal. And I mean, it really just goes to show you that uh it was these three plus the name we’re going to get to in the second segment that were were carrying the offense. I mean, you know, if we were losing one of these guys for an extended period of time, we would have really been in trouble because all the rookies, all the other guys um that underwhelmed with their expectations. I mean, if if some guys that we hoped would live up to their potential, i.e. Josh Low and Chris Morurell, uh, could filter in and and carry a little bit of the weight. I mean, the Rays could have been top 10 offensively across the board. Well, they were more middle of the pack. Yeah, exactly. So, let’s talk about that third guy who we think he’s going to have the the best shot, and that’s Junior Camino. And I will tell you why I think that Junior uh has the edge at his position. Because when you look at the other two guys, let’s start with Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman was hurt for a chunk of the season, which you’ve already alluded to with in in the Chisum column. Um that put a dent in Bregman’s overall stats. I mean, 114 games, that’s that’s not great. Uh 18 home runs and 821 OPS. Yeah, that’s nothing to write home about for the Silver Slugger. No, no Silver Slugger should There should be no Silver Slugger winner that has 18 home runs unless you’re maybe a catcher, right? Or when there was the when when pitchers were hitting in the National League. Yeah. And especially at a you know, the hot corner, that’s a power position. Third base, first base, and corner outfield, which again, 18 home runs in 114 games. Good on you, Greg. But not for the Silver Slugger. So, let’s move on to the other guy, Jose Ramirez. perennial silver slugger a winner. Uh he is more of an issue. He slashed 283 360 36503 an 863 ops with 30 home runs 44 stolen bags. He’s just a machine. 137 OPS plus. But when you look at Junior Camos lane 264 311 535 that’s an 846 OPS compared to Ramirez’s 863 OPS. So, not e less than 20 points apart, but this is the differentiator. Instead of 30 home runs, Junior has 45. Okay. Uh and then when you have RBI’s and runs, Junior had the bigger number when you add them all together. So, 93 runs, 110 RBI’s, while Ramirez had 103 runs and 85 RBI. So yeah, put it all together. 131 OPS plus for junior, 137 OPS plus for Junior. I think it’s right there for the taking. And I will say the home runs at 45 from a 21 22 year old guy who made a showing on in the home run derby. Maybe there’s voting fatigue of saying always Jose Ramirez, Jose Ramirez. Oh wait, Junior Camino. Yeah, he did have a great season. And you have that that added benefit. I think Junior has the edge out of all the three race finalists. I agree. And and honestly, and I don’t think I’m being homerist or biased here, but Junior should win the silver slugger. If we’re talking about MVP votes, I’ll give that to Jose Ramirez every day of the week just based on the overall package and the stolen bases and all the other numbers that you referenced. When I think of Silver Slugger, at least growing up, I always focused, you know, maybe a little bit on average, but mostly on the home runs and the RBI’s, the the power numbers and that and Junior Camero has a big edge in that respect. And hey, if we just really want to get down pat to slugging percentage, Junior Cimero has a higher slugging percentage than Jos Ramirez. So to me, um I mean, sure, you can make a case or an argument either way, but I would find it hard to believe that a guy who hit 15 more homers than somebody else doesn’t win the Silver Slugger, unless it was a situation um like, you know, if Junior was batting 190 or 200 or something like that. But right, his average was very very very respectable, good actually in this era. And he’s 22. It’s 22. It’s too big of an edge. 30 to 45 home runs. And it’s not the home run bat, but Silver Slugger usually exactly has been traditionally home runs, RBI’s, how much power, how much runs are you really bringing in as a hitter. And so, yeah, I think uh Junior Camto does have that best shot, but guess what? If it wasn’t for an untimely injury, Kevin, and boy was it untimely for many reasons, the race could have easily added another name to this trio. Let’s be real, making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress, I’m tired, or it happens to everyone sometimes. 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Jonathan Aranda would have been a finalist for the silver slugger if he hadn’t gotten hurt. If you look at the numbers, who he would have been against here, um, let’s not look at Nick Curts, the big Amish numbers, because they are ridiculous. If you guys haven’t seen his numbers for the year Nick Curts had in 117 games, I’m talking 290 average, 36 bombs, a 173 bleeping OPS plus. It was disgusting. Okay, so I’m not talking Nick Curts is in the same stratosphere as Jonathan. Okay. And not to bury the lead, but Nick Curts was a rookie. This was his first major league season and he made it look extremely easy. So that that he is one of the very few and I mean few reasons to watch the Oakland Athletics. It really was Sacramento athletics or the Las Vegas athletics. Apparently they’re adding the Sacramento to their jerseys in next year. So hey, maybe maybe call Yeah, good for them. So people can get a commemorative Nick Curts jersey in Sacramento and use it as a history point. Yeah, you can. Um, so not so take Curts out. The other guy, Vladito, we know who Vladi is. I mean, he is just a menace. He’s a guy that is so good. He got paid like a superstar. 500 million big ones. 500 million. 23 home runs, a 292 average, a 133 OPS plus, which can I be honest, those numbers that he put up this year, I don’t know if that’s Look, it’s it’s good. It’s very good. It’s, you know, on Yandi’s level, but is that worth $500 million? I don’t think so. I don’t You know how I feel about it. I thought it was an overpay, but that’s not the segment. And but I just wanted to point that out as an aside. Now, let’s focus on the third guy, Vinnie Pascantino. Love Vinnie, what he’s doing for baseball, being active on social media, doing the interviews like Junior Camto is doing the interviews during the World Series and all that. Uh, but Vinnie in his 160 games, he had good numbers. 32 bombs, a 264 average, 120 OPS plus. You look at the numbers and he’s like, “Yeah, that’s a fine season.” But when you look at what Jonathan Randa did in 106 games when he’s putting up a 316 average instead of a 264, an on base of 393 instead of a two instead of a 323, a slug percentage of 489 instead of 475, I know PS of 883 instead of 798. I know PS+ of 146 instead of a 120. You start there thinking, well, these are better numbers. Yeah. then Vinnie Pascantino. But like we said earlier, the home run is an edge. 14- 32, the RBI’s 59 to 113. But I’ll say something. If he had gotten hurt, that wouldn’t have been 14 bombs. That would have been upwards of 20. So now you’re shrinking that and the RBI’s would have shrunk even more. So, I think there’s something to be said here that Jonathan Randa did ultimately have a calling to be that third finalist if he had gotten hurt. I agree. And I think for Jonathan Aronda, at least going forward, the key for him will be having a high OPS obviously, but namely the the batting average for one and then the on base percentage. I mean, the slugging percentage, you know, that’s fine. But when you when you are at a position like first base, you’re going to be competing year in and year out for s silver slugger nominations with guys who can hit 30 to 35 to 38 to 40 home runs in their sleep like Vladito, like Nick Curts, like Vinnie Pascantino. So, you have to do something if if and I don’t know if Jonathan Aronda’s ever going to be a 30 home run guy. I think of him more as a Yandi Diaz type power contributor. maybe a little bit more. Um, I mean, if he played a full season, we’d probably be looking at 20 home runs, but again, when you’re, you know, it’s not like he’s a shortstop, second baseman where he can get away with having that few of home runs to be on a list like this. So, that’s where he really has to wow with the batting average and the on base and other numbers like that to make up for what likely will be a home run deficit when you’re competing against some of these guys. And you know, not to harp on it, but you look at Vladito’s numbers. Uh, tell me what’s better than Jonathan Oranda’s 2025. The home runs, he beat him out by nine, but uh, dude, Vladito played 156 games. Jonathan Randa 106 games. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Vladito had another like 220 at bats more than Aronda did. And Aranda has a better average, has a better on base, has a better slug. So of course he has a better OPS and OPS plus than Vladito. So like Jonathan Randa had all the makings of being a Silver Slugger finalist, but that injury man uh at Yankee Stadium against Stanton, just put him out, but he would have been a Silver Slugger, man. Now speaking of stadiums, that will be the key going forward. I mean, really for for everybody. Um, but Aronda, left-handed hitter and not being in Yankee Stadium and the short porch and all that, what are his power numbers going to look like in Tropicana Field? Half your games are in Tropicana Field. And same thing, I’m I’ll be curious to see what it is for Junior Kimro and Brandon Laauo and Yandi Diaz, but for for Ronda um I mean I’d have to take a look at his spray charts and dive into that a little bit more, but but I would imagine that Stein Burner Field and and the way the dimensions of that field are that that would have probably helped his case to some extent. But we’ve seen some some pretty deep shots from Aronda that would be a home run in pretty much any ballpark. So, um, I think that, you know, you go into 2026 with the four guys that we’ve mentioned and and they can stay healthy. I mean, you think ifs and buts, I know, but if if those four guys were to give you 140 plus games together, that at least would give you a couple more wins, I think, without doing anything. So, Exactly. Yeah. So, it it should be a fun 22826 season and we’re going to preview all of that, but we wanted to just make mention of these silver sluggers because it’s not every day that the Rays not only have three, but could have had four silver sluggers. No. And in fact, I think in the Rays history they’ve had three different players that have actually won a silver slugger. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got this. I got this. Pñena, Longo, Crawford, Yandi. Four. Yandi won a silver slugger. 2023. Yeah. Then then we have four. How about that? And maybe Yandi can add another uh to his list here. Uh it remains to be seen. But uh we do, before we close out this fun Friday episode, have baseball trivia and Name That War. Come play with us on that. Next, the NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you do not want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $30 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Uh, it undoubtedly makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little extra something riding on the action. And whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel, they make the game day experience so much better. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Thank you for listening to the Locked on Race podcast and making us your very first listen every day. We appreciate it. We are of course part of the Locked On podcast network. Ulisses, we have baseball trivia and name that war to close a fun Friday episode and the people Yeah. love it. Um and my trivia question is very fitting to the conversation that we’ve had today. In front of me, I have a list of nine different names. And these nine different names have quite the accomplishment. Every one of these players has garnered at least eight silver sluggers a piece. Not nominations, but actual wins and awards. So, I want four of these nine names. So, these are studs. Well, let’s let’s start with the hammer. Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron uh is not on this list. Who knows? Maybe they didn’t introduce the silver slugger until what? Later in the years, but uh he is nowhere to be found here. Okay. Well, I think of other numbers. Tell me when find out when the silver slugger was was invented because that’s bull crap. Let’s put uh chat GPT. Yeah. To work. Okay. Well, then let’s go with an easier one. Let’s go with Barry Bonds. He is the clubhouse leader with 12. All right. So then we can’t say Okay. Uh I have some facts for you. Uh the Silver Slugger Award was created in 1980 by Hillerick and Bradsby company, the makers of Louisville Slugger bats. Okay, fair. It is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and National League. So that is 1980. Okay. Why? Uh Hank Aaron, do I get a a strike still or uh yeah, you get a strike still uh for not knowing your history. Um now, however, I will say you have this knowledge in mind. So don’t be thinking about players in the 60s or 70s, right? Go color TV for sure. Color TV. Colored TV would be a good uh point of reference. Okay. Well then, and you said eight or more. Uh eight or more silver sluggers. Barry Bonds is number one on this list with 12 who you already have. And I need three more names. Let’s go with the machine. Albert Poles. He is not on this list. Strike two. I mean, what are we playing at? The machine is not on there. Uh maybe he has seven. He is He is not on here. What are the voters thinking? Like now I was going to now say Niggy, but now if like Puh doesn’t have I mean again he did play during the steroid era so that might have Yeah. I don’t want to say hurt him but made the competition a little bit more preient. Okay. So then Okay. So what are the names here? We got Jim Tom. We got Man Ramirez. We got Poppy. We got Frank Thomas. We got A-Rod. A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez. That is a guess. Okay. He is number two on the list with 10, right? Like there’s no freaking way. Kind of upset at this. Yeah. Okay. So, out of all those guys that I just mentioned, Poppy, Frank, Manny, Miggy, who could have had eight. I mean, all of them should have had eight. Albert Pulse, by the way, was a sixtime Silver Slugger winner. Okay, so I’m not going there. But but but but who else was a dangerous DH for as long as Poppy was? Let’s go with Bleeping Big Poppy. David Ortiz, strike three. All right, here are the names I was looking for. You got Barry Bonds. You got Alex Rodriguez. You forgot about Mike Piaza. He had 10. You forgot about Mike Trout. He has nine. Manny Ramirez has nine. Barry Larkin has nine. Vladimir Guerrero, not Vladito, but Vladimir, the OG Guerrero had eight. Wade Bogs had eight. Cal Ripken Jr. had eight. All right. Funky list. I respect it. I respect that. I respect the funky list. The facts are the facts. I mean, those are pretty big names there. Can you Can you look up Frank Thomas and Mickey Cabrera like how many they had? Yeah. Well, you’re giving me name that war. I will uh get on that. Yeah. Gosh darn it. Okay. Well, let’s let’s let’s take a deep breath, people. I know you’re with me. You understand my frustrations. I understand it. Right. Well, let’s move on. Thomas had four silver sluggers. Jesus. And then what was your other uh name? Okay. Continue. Okay. Uh Name That War is what we’re going to be playing right now. Now, name that war is the game where we take a player from the past and we try to guess their career war according to baseball reference only using our baseball archive mind and today’s player of the past. Well, I was reminded of him multiple times because well, the Blue Jays are in the Bleeping World Series and the name I want you to think of is Joe Carter. What is Joe Carter’s career war according to baseball reference? Give me Migy Cabera’s Silver Sluggers. Uh Mickey Cabrera won seven Silver Sluggers by the way. Joe Carter, I am totally out of the loop on this one before my time here. Uh I’m going to assume though that he played at least a decade in the league, had a couple all-star appearances. I want to say he hit at least 300 home runs. I want to say he probably had a 280 batting average for his career. I could be way off on that, but I will try to bottle all that up and say his baseball reference career war is 28. Five-time all-star, twotime silver slugger, twotime World Series champ. He had 396 home runs, dude. Okay. I did not know Joe Carter had these numbers. By the way, his slash line pretty nifty. 259 306 464 slug. That’s a 771 for 16 years. A 105 ops plus of course steroid era era didn’t help him. And his career according to baseball reference is 19.5. So maybe Joe was not giving at all defensively I guess. Yeah. Hey, I I’m kind of happy that I said at least 300 home runs. So, 396, you know. Wow. Good for him. He just needed four more. Yeah. Somebody just tee up some, you know, have Brett Phillips pitch to him to get those extra four home runs. Something to that effect. Um, all right. We hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy this episode. And we enjoy game one. Enjoy game two. Go Blakes now. Show them up. Let’s go. We want uh two complete games from Blake Snell in the World Series. Maybe a no hitter, maybe a perfect game. Who knows? I mean, it’s all on the table, really. Go Don Larson on us. Yeah. Yes. On on that note, uh we will see you and talk to you next week.

Silver Slugger showdown: Can Junior Caminero outshine the competition? Tampa Bay Rays fans, brace yourselves for an electrifying analysis of your team’s Silver Slugger nominees.
Kevin Weiss and Ulises Sambrano break down the chances of Caminero, Brandon Lowe, and Yandy Diaz bringing home the hardware. The hosts dive into Caminero’s impressive 45-homer season and how it stacks up against other third base contenders. Plus, discover why Jonathan Aranda’s injury might have cost him a nomination and what it means for his future with the Rays.
Tune in for expert insights on the Rays’ offensive firepower and a fun “Name that WAR” segment featuring a beloved MLB slugger.
0:00 Three Rays nominated for Silver Slugger
3:41 Yandy Diaz’s 2025 season stats
6:34 Junior Caminero’s Silver Slugger prospects
12:07 Jonathan Aranda: Potential fourth finalist
18:56 Rays’ Silver Slugger history and prospects
21:15 Baseball trivia: Most Silver Slugger awards
25:45 Name that WAR: Guessing Joe Carter’s career

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