Junior Caminero launches the Rays back into October

Well, let's talk a little Tampa Bay Rays because not only did they clinch a postseason berth over the weekend, they are playing pretty good baseball right now and hoping, I think many of us hoping, that they've got what it takes to maybe make a run deep into the playoffs. So it seems like things could be coming together. Maybe we will see. We'll get the opinion of Alex Murphy, co-founder of Raise the Roof, joining us live now via Zoom. Alex, always enjoy talking Raise Baseball with you and thanks for joining us. It's been a fun few days for the team. Yeah, first off, thanks so much as always for having me, guys. And yeah, it has been, I mean, since Friday when Junior hit the walk-off bomb, it has been just a great time to be a Rays fan. And there's still, what, like 13 games left in the regular season? So we'll see what happens, but definitely a lot of fun over the last couple of days. And we'll talk about that home run here in a minute. But they haven't taken their foot off the gas either. I mean, since that clinching game, they've still been playing pretty well. Yeah, they have been very solid. They just swept a series against the Astros. I know we just talked about it on our podcast today, but the, I mean, after the celebrations on Friday, you think maybe there's a little bit of a letdown game. They came out on Saturday, still had their foot on the gas pedal, were able to win, and then Sunday, offensive explosion, you see all the series sweep, which was their 15th of the season. I think 15 different teams that they've swept as well, which is wild that they've swept half of baseball this year. But yeah, really, really impressive series from them to, you know, stay the course and not let, you know, some bubbly and things of that nature hinder their play over the weekend. That Junior Caminero home run. I mean, what a moment, first of all, and what a season. I mean, legit MVP talk for him. Yeah, and deserved MVP talk. I know Jim Bowden went on foul territory a day or two ago and was kind of giving his thoughts and his opinions on why he thinks that Junior should be the MVP in the American League. Currently leading the American League in home runs with 40, hit his 40th of the season. With the walk-off, he's the first raised player to ever have multiple 40 home run seasons, let alone back-to-back 40 home run seasons, which is wild. But he has been just a revelation this season. Like, knowing what he did last year, he has exceeded everything going into this season. Has been a much more balanced play overall, better play overall. Such a leader for this team at just 23 years old. I was definitely not doing that at 23, and I don't know if a lot of people can claim that they've done what he's been able to do at that young of an age. But he has been just fantastic this season. It was really, really cool for him to have that moment. He did the LeBron thing afterwards, which is funny considering that he got traded from Cleveland. To start his career at. So just a really, really cool moment for him on Friday. And so what does the postseason look like for this team? And kind of how things could stack up for them? If they've got Junior playing the way he is now, how critical is he to this team and their postseason success? I mean, he is everything to this team when it comes to that. And I say that understanding that you still have Yanni Diaz. You still have Jonathan Aranda. You still have Liam Hicks, who's been great since he came over to the Rays. Victor Mesa Jr. just won AL Player of the Week. He has been fantastic just in the month of September. But since he's been called up from Durham, he's been incredible. But Junior is the engine for this team. He is the backbone of this team. He's the one who helps the gears turn. And if he's rolling, everyone else is rolling. Now, I would love to see what this team is able to do. If he's not rolling, especially in the postseason, because I know that he's had some lulls throughout the year and the Rays have been able to, you know, overcome those. But specifically, when you only have a certain amount of games to play with, you know, if Junior's not at his best, the Rays need to find a way to have these other guys produced. But I mean, for everything, Junior is the key for this team. And if he continues to do what he's doing, if he continues to be the big clubhouse presence that he's been over the last several months, and I mean, honestly, last two years, if you look back to what he did last year, that is going to allow the Rays to have much more success as a team overall. Well, it's been a fun season, and we are not ready for it to end just yet. Still some regular season games, like you said, and then playoffs, and it looks like pre-sales for some of those games starts in just a couple of minutes. So, a lot of folks are going to be hitting those refresh buttons. Hopefully, we'd love to see a packed drop for that. Alex Murphy, raise the roof. Always good talking with you. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks so much for having me as always, guys. Appreciate it.