MILWAUKEE — World Series discussions often center around superstars — especially if they’re easy ones we can call “future Hall of Famers.” Two years ago, when the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees faced off, there were at least five active players eligible for the draft and probably a few with a decent chance. This time around, the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays have no fire hall of famers. Christian Yelich is a very close thing, and to be brief (that’s another story for another time).
I think it’s a good argument, however, that the best position player on each team is actually a future Hall of Famer. It is too early to make such a declaration, but they have a primitive foundation and due talent. Both are emerging superstars, although one is a little more nationally recognized than the other (thank you, Home Run Derby). They will have the spotlight together in this series.
We are of course talking about Junior Caminero of radio and Jackson Chourio Brewer.
Now they are not unknown. I’m not suggesting it. But I will also excuse you if you do not observe both of these groups regularly. However, we are all blessed with a remarkable second wave of incredible baseball talent.
Caminerus is a 23-year-old Dominican third baseman. His first full season was 2025, in which he had 45 home runs and 110 RBI. As an encore this season, he hit 42 home runs with 101 RBI. Don’t miss the line as you proceed. While his power numbers dipped ever so slightly there, he raised his average by 12 points, his on-base percentage by 49 points and his walk rate by five percentage points, all while his strikeout rate dropped. To see this kind of growth from one year to the next at the age of 23, while almost maintaining his control, leads me to believe that there is an outside machine in him as a player. We could very well get him to hit close to .300 next season and double those 40 bombs. He also improved his defense, helping him to 5.7 WAR from 4.3 last season.
“I think it’s just consistency,” Cedric Mullins told Radio on Thursday. “He’s put together fantastic seasons in back-to-back years. Even when he started a little slow, he’s gotten back on a hot streak. He’s going to be excited to see what he can do going forward.”
“Junior is a special player, a special teammate,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said earlier in the playoffs. “It’s incredible and I believe, as he’s done every single stop in his career, whether he’s playing winter ball or going up, he’s excited, he’s excited, and we’re going to rise to the occasion.”
Caminero could very well finish in the top two of the MVP vote, behind the beloved Yordan Alvarez, and I think it’s fair to say that he will be the MVP with a fair degree of certainty.
Rays catcher Liam Hicks, acquired at the trade deadline, was frustrated by something as simple as watching Caminero every day in batting practice, but specifically determined his ability to adjust and adjust to the big leagues.
“This is also crazy: how much power he has, how many home runs he has,” Hicks said. “He doesn’t strike out a lot; he makes a ton of contact. I think that’s a crazy part of the game. He’s as upside down as anybody in the game.”
Chourio, meanwhile, is a 22-year-old Venezuelan (and World Baseball Classic champion!) who signed an eight-year extension before even playing in the majors. He started his professional career at age 17 in the Brewers system and was a top five prospect in all of baseball by 2023, when he was just 19. There’s a five-tool superstar just waiting to break out in a monster season. He had his best year in 2026, but clearly has more in the tank. Remember, he’s only 22. Injuries have kept him out of 127 games this year, but he’s still hitting .291/.351/.487 (129 OPS+) with 27 doubles, 25 home runs, 75 RBI, 96 runs, 23 hits and a 4.9 WAR. He is a Golden Ball finalist and has gone 20-20 in all three of his MLB seasons so far. He can do everything.
“He’s Chourio, he’s a special person,” Patrick Brewer said of Chadd’s pitcher at midday Thursday. “When you watch him in the box, the presence, the sound, he’s capable of what he wants to be in the box.
“His day in day-out is just happy. He’s a happy guy.”
“He has such a high ceiling that we don’t know if he’ll ever hit,” reliever DL Halle said. “You know, because it just keeps getting better and better, and it seems like there’s no way.”
“Playing with him every day for me and the rest of the bullpen, every time he gets up, we’re like, ‘He’s probably going to hit the bullpen.’ Every time he goes to the plate, you just expect something special. It speaks to the work he puts in and how he strives, especially at such a young age.
It is impossible to mistake the genius emanating from Chourio. It is there that he has earned his swagger as he tells us it doesn’t seem like anything. Another future MVP? He’s absolutely got talent, even if he’s further away than Caminero at this point – and no offense. Chourio also shows dramatic flair.
“Nothing is too big for Jack Jack,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after NLCS Game 3, when Chourio hit a home run off former Cy Young winner Blake Snell’s first pitch. “It’s special.”
Brewers pitcher Dustin May has seen his fair share of talented teammates, including the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich. And that’s just naming the teammates who won MVPs.
“I can’t say,” Utina said when CBS Sports asked if Chourio would join that list. “He’s definitely getting there, definitely. If he can put one year together like he knows he’s going to win one.”
“I think” [MVP upside] It’s for sure,” said Patrick.
Caminero and Chourio, the bosses of their youth clubs, are different players. He is a corner infielder and a prototypical middle-order slugger, although he is more well-rounded than some might believe the term implies. This outing is at great speed, capable of 30-30 times as early as the following year, but is unlikely to climb into the middle of 40 home runs the way Caminero figures to do every year. Caminero won’t steal a ton of bases, while Chourio could easily go 40+ at some point.
But whatever the skill is, they certainly have something in common: you are in a better position to strike at a tender age, at a young age. The 2026 World Series is a showcase for these two extremely talented players. It probably won’t be the last.