Rays place four players in 2026 All-Star Game, including starter Caminero

The Tampa Bay Rays will send four players to this year’s All-Star Game, including Junior Caminero, who won the fan vote to start at third base for the American League.

Other Rays All-Stars, selected by peers, are pitchers Drew Rasmussen and Bryan Baker and reserve designated hitter Yandy Diaz.

“All four are very, very deserving,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

The rosters were announced Saturday night, a few minutes after Caminero belted his 26th home run of the season – and 11th over the past 11 games – in his first at-bat at Houston.

“It’s kind of like must-see TV with his at-bats right now,” Cash said.

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Caminero, who makes no secret of his love for the spotlight, was the first player to commit to this year’s Home Run Derby. A year ago, he was outdueled by Seattle's Cal Raleigh in the final round.

“You see, I put on a show, always,” Caminero said before the Astros ended the Rays’ nine-game win streak on Saturday.

The Rays, who have the AL’s best record (52-34) as of Saturday, joined the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays with a league-best four All-Stars.

Caminero, who turned 23 on Sunday, took the third-base vote over Toronto’s Kazuma Okamoto, 67 to 33 percent, in Phase 2 of fan balloting. Phase 1 narrowed the position finalists to two.

Caminero is starting for the second straight season; last year, he was an injury replacement for reserve Alex Bregman and vote-winner Jose Ramirez.

Rasmussen, ahead of his second All-Star appearance, was named AL pitcher of the month for June, when he registered a 0.82 ERA with 39 strikeouts and only four walks in 33 innings. He was an injury replacement to the AL staff last year. After overcoming three major elbow surgeries, the right-hander is among the best pitchers in the majors, although he had a rough outing at Houston on Saturday that raised his season ERA to a mere 2.78.

Baker, a first-time All-Star, was a mostly unnoticed addition at last year’s trade deadline. Then, Rays pitching coach Kyle Sydner worked his magic, mostly by getting Baker to throw his changeup more. The 11- to 12-mph velocity gap from his 97-mph fastball has turned him into a dominating closer, with 23 saves and a 1.83 ERA.

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“Definitely not something I expected coming into the year,” Baker said after learning of his selection. “It’s a pleasant surprise, for sure.”

Diaz, 34, is also an All-Star for the second time. Fans voted him in at first base in 2023, when he hit the first home run by a Rays’ starter. He has continued to be disciplined at the plate in primarily a DH role. His .325 batting average leads the AL, and his low strikeout rate (12%) makes him among the majors’ toughest outs.

He "sets the tone for our offense," Cash said.

All-Star weekend will be hosted at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park on July 11-14. That includes the Futures Game at noon Sunday, July 12 (NBC) and Home Run Derby at 8 p.m. Monday, July 13 (Netflix). The All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14, is at 8 p.m. on Fox.

As players from other teams opt out of the game due to injury or team responsibilities, more Rays could be added to the roster, including first baseman Jonathan Aranda, and pitchers Nick Martinez and Kevin Kelly.

"We're hoping to have more. We deserve to have more," Cash said.

Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the fans’ selection at first base, has already said he plans to skip the game to rest his back.

Starting pitchers will be chosen by the managers, the Blue Jays' John Schneider for the AL and the Dodgers' Dave Roberts for the National League.