SAN DIEGO, CA – Daniel Camarena was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft and after 10 years of bouncing through the minor leagues, got his big break in 2021. The Bonita, California native, now 28, took the long row to the major leagues, but this week put on a show that will be remembered for a long time by Padres fans.
This week, in front of his hometown crowd in San Diego, he hit a grand slam to help fire up his team for an amazing come from behind win.
A pitcher by trade, but drafted by the Yankees as a dual role player, Camerena bounced around the Yankees AA and AAA teams for a few years before bouncing around between the Twins and Giants farm systems. He made his way back to the Yankees in 2019 going 4-8 for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre but things didn’t work out. In 2021, after a year away from professional baseball, he was picked up by the Padres and went 3-2 with a 3.74 ERA for El Paso before being called up to the Major Leagues.
Check out the breakdown below by Jomboy Media.