Is That You, Junior?

My favorite player on the Durham Bulls this year is third baseman Junior Caminero. He's one of the best hitting prospects in all of Minor League baseball and a name that everyone is going to know sooner than later. Junior hits the ball hard.  

Junior Caminero (@RaysBaseball) smokes his 12th Triple-A homer at 112.4 mph 🔥

MLB's No. 2 prospect has five extra-base knocks through nine games this month for the @DurhamBulls. pic.twitter.com/WXBqoKmzq8

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 11, 2024

I have been slowly working more Junir Caminero cards into the collection, but it has taken some time due to their high cost. This is one of those rare moments when my collection aligns with an expensive prospect, which kind of stinks. Most of his autographs are $100 and up, so I have been chasing some of his nice looking inserts instead of his autographs. The inserts are much more reasonably priced for a guy who has played only a handful of games in the Majors.  

My latest is an All-Etch Rookie card out of this year's Topps Chrome set.  

Topps originally made the All-Etch cards back in the late 1990s, but they've brought them back for this year's Chrome set. Really nice looking cards. I love that they've kept the 1990s vibe with the background design of the card.  This card has some long odds, but still cost less than a Chrome box at Wally World or Target.  

Here is the back of the card.  

Nice write up on the back of the card with an interesting factoid about Caminero and blog favorite B.J. Upton. While Junior made his Major League debut last season, he has spent all of this year with my Durham Bulls up to being called up last week following the trade deadline.  

I have a few more cards of Junior in the works, hoping he becomes a player I regular blog about.