KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Rays' Junior Caminero is bringing his sweet swing back to the All-Star Home Run Derby.
The Tampa Bay slugger committed Tuesday to participating in the event in Philadelphia on July 13, then promptly offered fans a reminder of why they should be excited to watch him: Caminero belted a three-run homer in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals, making it five consecutive games in which the 22-year-old third baseman has gone deep.
Ryan Vilade followed him with a homer of his own on the very next pitch from the Royals' Noah Cameron.
Caminero, who has hit 23 homers already this season, has hit eight of them in the last seven games alone. He had seven homers and 15 RBIs last week, making him the no-doubt choice for the American League player of the week.
Caminero put on a show last year in the Home Run Derby with his multicolored bat, advancing to the final round before losing a close contest to Seattle slugger Cal Raleigh. The final was 18-15 in a long-ball hitting showcase that boosted ratings on ESPN.
Caminero, who turns 23 on Sunday, went on to hit 45 homers last season, finishing sixth in Major League Baseball.
In an era of faster-paced games thanks in part to the implementation of a pitch clock, MLB has decided to eliminate a similar clock from its Home Run Derby this summer. Each hitter will have 20 swings in the first round of this year’s contest. The change coincides with a switch in broadcaster to Netflix from ESPN, which had televised the event since 1994.
Any player who homers on his 20th swing will keep on swinging until he doesn’t connect for home run. The top four hitters advance, with the distance of the longest homer being used as the tiebreaker if necessary.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout recently said it is unlikely he will participate in the event.
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