Here are three things to watch for around baseball this Tuesday:
1. Rays to recall Junior Caminero:
The Rays plan to promote top prospect Junior Caminero before tonight’s game against the Astros. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the news.
Caminero, 21, is a consensus top-five prospect in the game. He made his MLB debut last September, going 8-for-34 with a .631 OPS in a seven-game cup of coffee. The promising young infielder returned to the minor leagues in 2024, and he has settled in quite nicely during his first stint at Triple-A. He has 13 home runs, an .828 OPS, and a 109 wRC+ in 53 games. What’s more, he has not skipped a beat since returning from his most recent stint on the IL due to quad trouble. The righty batter is hitting .304 with an .857 OPS and a 114 wRC+ in his last 19 games. That’s not overwhelming production, especially coming out of Triple-A, but Caminero has been playing well enough that it’s not hard to see why the Rays decided to give him another shot in the bigs.
Caminero will likely spend most of his time at third base and DH, and Tampa Bay will hope he can provide a boost to a struggling lineup. The Rays have lost six of their last 10 games, and their offense ranks 27th in the majors in runs scored since the trade deadline, averaging just 3.33 runs per contest.
2. Zebby Matthews to debut for Twins:
In more prospect news, the Twins plan to select one of their top pitching prospects to make his MLB debut tonight: Zebby Matthews will get the start against the Royals (per ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Matthews, 24, will join fellow rookies Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa in the Twins’ rotation. Minnesota’s starting rotation was supposed to be one of the team’s biggest strengths entering the season, but injuries to Anthony DeSclafani, Chris Paddack, and, most recently, Joe Ryan – plus a poor performance from former top prospect Louie Varland – have forced the Twins to rely more heavily on their rookies than they expected to.
Matthews started the season at High-A and made his way up to Triple-A by mid-July. He’s sporting a 2.60 ERA in 97 innings and has demonstrated excellent strikeout skills and phenomenal control at every step along the way (30.5% strikeout rate, 1.8% walk rate). Minnesota might have preferred to give him a little more time at Triple-A – he has a 5.68 ERA over his first four starts with the St. Paul Saints – but Ryan’s injury forced the team’s hand. The Twins will need to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for Matthews on the 40-man roster.
3. MRIs scheduled for Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ketel Marte:
Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. exited yesterday’s contest with a left elbow injury after diving awkwardly into home plate (per Greg Joyce of the New York Post). X-rays were negative, and Chisholm told reporters he wasn’t “super concerned” about the injury, but he will undergo an MRI today just in case (per Joyce). Chisholm has been a key player for New York over the past couple of weeks, batting .316 with a 1.062 OPS in 14 games. He has hit seven home runs and scored 13 times for the Bronx Bombers, and the Yankees have gone 9-5 since he joined the team.
Over in the NL, another star infielder will go for an MRI. Ketel Marte aggravated a prior injury in his left ankle last night and exited the game in the second inning (per Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports). Marte sat out on Monday due to his ankle, but he and the team presumed he would be ready to return after a day off. The D-backs have not provided much more information about the potential severity, but manager Torey Lovullo suggested today’s MRI was a precautionary measure (per Weiner). Marte is a dark-horse NL MVP candidate this season, so needless to say, he has been critical to Arizona’s success. He is batting .298 with 30 home runs, a .930 OPS, and a 152 wRC+. His 5.4 FanGraphs WAR ranks third in the National League.