Miami Marlins prospects: Arquimedes Caminero and his path to the majors

Arquimedes Caminero has not had the prototypical rise to the Majors as many other hard-throwing relievers in the past. For instance, he's already 26 years old but he's never pitched more than 75 innings in one season. Promoted to the Marlins big league club just a few days ago, Caminero will get the chance to face some elite competition and show off his tremendous fastball velocity. Arquimedes Caminero has come a very long ways since he signed out of the D.R. in 2005, but he still has a long ways to go before reaching his potential and that's what makes him such an intriguing pitcher.

Arquimedes Caminero was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in June of 1987. For reference, Caminero is about six months older than Mat Latos, who now has five seasons in the Majors under his belt. When he signed with the Marlins in 2005, Caminero was tall and extremely lanky, but he still had a fastball that could get into the upper 90's with ease. Caminero made his first appearance in 2008, making it from the GCL to Greensboro, in the South Atlantic League by the end of the season. Never given the chance to be a starter, probably because the Marlins wanted to protect his arm and his control has always been an issue, Caminero spent the healthy parts of his 2009 and 2010 season between Short-Season Jamestown and Greensboro. During this time, Caminero's strikeout numbers were continually impressive but his walks issued were also impressive, and not in a positive way.

2011 was a rough season for Arquimedes Caminero. He missed the entire season with Tommy John surgery and didn't return to pitching in the Minors until June of 2012. Last season was all about Caminero working himself back up his previous form and also controlling his walks. He split the season between High Class A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville. Heading into 2013, Caminero had me very excited with his dominant performances in the Dominican Winter League. He got off to a slow start with Double-A Jacksonville, but he seemed to have continually improved and he took charge of being the team's set-up man by the end of the year.

Arquimedes Caminero has a bright future, hopefully in the Marlins bullpen, ahead of him as a pitcher. Personally, having followed Caminero all these years for his monster strikeout rates, I want to see Caminero become the menacing closer that he has the potential to be. However, I'm sure the Marlins will be thrilled if Caminero can improve his command and turn into more of a reliable reliever. Even though he signed with the Marlins about eight years ago, it really feels as if Arquimedes Euclides Caminero's career is just taking off.