ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Stored with a ton of electricity all across Tampa Bay’s clubhouse, twenty five Rays along with each coach had full confidence in their face of the franchise Junior Caminero—at the young age of 23—stepping up for his team when they needed it most. 

With the Rays trailing the Guardians 2-1 after the first three games in their American League Championship Series showdown, bench coach Rodney Linares said it best to Latino Sports ahead of Game 4 this past Saturday in Cleveland. 

“Junior works as hard as anybody in the game. He wants to be great. He does not want to be good. I think sometimes we forget he’s 23, a couple years into the game and we count on him. So as far as we’re concerned, he’s putting in the work and hopefully it materializes out there on the field.” 

Well, like they say, those who put in the work, reap the benefits. 

For the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native, hitting .182 across the first three ALCS games (2-12 with 1 RBI, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts), Caminero’s work indeed materialized on the diamond from that very point, with a big sixth inning go-ahead double in Game 4 Saturday & a huge seventh inning two-run HR Monday night in Game 6 at Tropicana Field. 

Junior Caminero's trip around the bases ⚡ pic.twitter.com/SiANRvSDR6

— MLB (@MLB) October 20, 2026

An ALCS Game 6 swing and home run trot out of a video game that put the nail in the Guardians’ coffin while punching Caminero, Linares and the Rays ticket to the 2026 World Series. 

Next up for Tampa’s Dominican-duo? 

A Fall Classic matchup vs. the Brewers beginning this Friday night, October 23rd, with Game 1 live from Milwaukee at 8:08pm ET. 

“The thing is that people don’t see behind the scenes, the kid works. He works every day. He played 162 games this year, and did not miss one. Not one day of ground balls pregame either,” the Brooklyn-born Dominican Linares added of Caminero. 

“They were harping on his defense early in the year. He overcame that so I know he’s going to overcome the issues from recently too.”

Before Game 4 of the American League Championship Series this past Saturday, with the Rays down 2-1 to the Guardians, Tampa Bay bench coach Rodney Linares said about Junior Caminero who was coming off a rough Game 3 performance:

“Junior works as hard as anybody in the game. He… pic.twitter.com/fOR7AzO4P5

— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) October 20, 2026

Overcoming obstacles while proving the doubters wrong in the regular season and now postseason, Caminero ultimately has done, helping Linares get back to the World Series in the process, with his first Fall Classic appearance being in 2020 as the Rays faced the Dodgers (LAD won 4-2). 

The biggest stage in all of baseball, one Linares, 49, the son of Julio Linares, a former minor league player and longtime instructor for the Astros, is built for and already focused on. 

“I’m proud of the work that we’ve done and I’m proud of the organization. In my eight years here, we’ve been to the playoffs six times,” said Linares, joining Tampa’s coaching staff in November of 2018.

“It’s always good to come to the playoffs, but the ultimate goal is to win and until we achieve that, we’re not gonna be satisfied.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash on the impact bench coach Rodney Linares has had on Tampa Bay:

“Rodney's meant a ton to our organization since coming over here. There’s such great respect and admiration for Rodney, certainly with our Hispanic players. I mean everybody knows Rodney… pic.twitter.com/pa4xp842gS

— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) October 18, 2026