Junior Caminero's signature moment vs. Guardians feels stranger after quiet World Series exit

Last night the Brewers recorded their first World Series win in franchise history with a 4-1 win over the Rays. There were plenty of reasons Milwaukee won the Fall Classic, but their quest to hold the commissioner's trophy got a lot easier thanks to some serious struggles from the Rays, who finished the series with a .182 batting average as a team. 

The poster child for those struggles was former Guardians prospect Junior Caminero, who finished the series with a .513 OPS in 19 at-bats with just one RBI. Normally those kind of struggles from a former Guardians player would provide Guardians fans with the ability to take a victory lap, but that’s not the case with Caminero since he recorded a signature moment against the Guardians in the ALCS.

Junior Caminero's signature postseason moment came against the Guardians in the ALCS

Caminero’s regular season was the exact opposite of the postseason, as he finished the 162-game season with a .885 OPS to go along with 42 home runs and 101 RBI, which has him right in the thick of the American League Silver Slugger race. That kind of production would be enough to win the third base Silver Slugger even if José Ramírez was at his best, but Ramírez bowed out of the race in June when he went on the injured list with a hamate injury. 

Although Ramírez managed to return at the end of July, he had an OPS of just .598 after returning from his injury. He woke up from that slump just in time to help tip the scales in the American League Division Series, but it was too little too late when it came to this year’s Silver Slugger race. 

That’s a tough change to consider given Ramírez has won six career Silver Sluggers (including a win last year over Caminero), but the tides could be shifting since Ramírez isn’t getting any younger while Caminero continues to get stronger. 

Caminero may have finished the year with three less home runs and nine less RBI than he had last year, but he boosted his on-base percentage by nearly 50 points compared to 2025. He was already a sore subject among Guardians fans given the power he developed after Cleveland traded him away as a prospect, but Caminero’s balanced offensive approach has made things sting even more. 

And it could take even more of a turn for the worse should Caminero notch his first career Silver Slugger win on Nov. 17. He has some competition in the White Sox’s Miguel Vargas and Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle, but they both spent some time at other positions (and don’t have the same raw power numbers as Caminero). 

It’s going to be tough seeing someone other than Ramírez win the award, and Caminero winning would make it even tougher. 

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