Rays third baseman Junior Caminero took a baseball to the face after his own foul tip took a wild bounce and caught him on his right cheek on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay’s 1-0 win over the Guardians in Cleveland.
Caminero, 22, was up in the top of the first inning when he fouled a pitch off home plate, and the ball came back up, striking him and sending him bent over in pain.
The 2025 American League All-Star was checked up on by Rays trainer Joe Benge after he got back to his feet. Caminero eventually returned to the plate, and he grounded out to Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee on the next pitch.
But Caminero then came out of the game and was replaced by Ben Williamson.
After the game, Guardians manager Kevin Cash said Caminero — who suffered what the team said was a bruised right jaw — was doing well following the scary incident.
“He’s OK,” Cash told reporters, according to MLB.com. “He’s in really good spirits and I would expect him to be in the lineup tomorrow. That ball really came off the plate hard and I’m just glad that he’s in a pretty good spot right now.”
First baseman Jonathan Aranda called it a “scary moment” when he saw what happened to Caminero.
”We’re wishing him the best and hopefully he comes back and joins us soon,” he said.
The Rays have said that Caminero is day-to-day.
Tampa Bay won the game 1-0 with Aranda driving in the only run as the Rays picked up their sixth straight victory.
Caminero holds a .257 batting average and .827 OPS with eight home runs and 15 RBIs this season.
