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Jerar Encarnacion

Giants Activate Jerar Encarnacion

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The Giants activated first baseman/corner outfielder Jerar Encarnacion from the 60-day injured list before tonight’s game against San Diego. Outfielder Luis Matos was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. The move bumps the team’s 40-man roster count to 39.

Encrnacion broke a bone in his left hand when he dove for a ball in Spring Training. He underwent surgery that knocked him out for the first two months of the season. Encarnacion had entered camp with a decent path to playing time, especially against left-handed pitching. He could pick up short-side platoon reps at first base from LaMonte Wade Jr. and figured to get a lot of run as the designated hitter.

Wilmer Flores has hit for enough power to establish himself as Bob Melvin’s top choice at DH. The lefty-swinging Wade has had a terrible season at first base, though. He’ll take a .167/.271/.271 slash line into play tonight. While Wade has never been a conventionally slugging first baseman, he reached base at north of a .370 clip in each of the past two seasons. The Giants continue to give him the majority of playing time against righty pitching. Casey Schmitt has gotten some first base reps as well. He’s hitting .195 with no homers in 15 games.

Encarnacion, 27, appeared in 35 games late last season. He hit five homers while slugging .425, but it came with a .248 average and a .277 on-base mark. His only previous experience consisted of 23 games for the Marlins in 2022. Wade remains the starter tonight against San Diego right-hander Stephen Kolek. Melvin conceded that he could cede playing time rather quickly if he doesn’t get on track offensively. “It’s going to be about performance here. If (Wade) starts to take off here he might see more playing time, and if not, you might see Jerar a little bit more,” he told reporters (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).

In either case, this remains an area to watch as the 33-26 Giants approach deadline season. Bryce Eldridge looms in the minors, but he’s still 20 years old and has yet to play a Triple-A game. Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote last week that the organization will get former top prospect Marco Luciano some first base reps in Triple-A as well. Luciano is only hitting .212/.335/.394 over 52 games with Sacramento, so he’s not an ideal option either.

NL West Notes: King, Waldron, Ohtani, Giants

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The Padres provided an update on the status of right-hander Michael King earlier today, as relayed by Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The good news is that King’s shoulder issue, which sent him to the injured list just last weekend, is not structural in nature. Rather, Sanders writes that the right-hander is dealing with a pinched nerve. Less fortunate, however, is that the Padres remain in the dark about what King’s timetable for a return to action will ultimately look like.

“Now that we’ve been able to locate what the issue is … just trying to get a handle on how to release that nerve a little bit that’s preventing that (scapula) from being able to fire appropriately,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said, as relayed by Sanders. “We’ve got some really smart people, including Michael himself, involved with that process that will get that going as soon as possible, and how soon that is is to the discretion of that nerve.”

The cause of the pinched nerve isn’t known, though King was initially scratched from his start last week due to discomfort in his shoulder after sleeping on it uncomfortably the night prior. Sanders adds that King sought a second opinion on the issue earlier this week and that, because he’s already started to improve, the Padres are not yet ruling out him resuming playing catch by the end of next week. That would potentially allow him to return to the rotation shortly after his minimum stint on the injured list expires without a rehab start, although ultimately King won’t be able to return until the nerve issue has completely resolved itself. Sanders suggests that right-hander Matt Waldron, who pitched 146 2/3 innings for San Diego last year but has been sidelined all season so far due to an oblique strain, could be ready to return from the injured list in the near future and take up King’s rotation spot while he’s on the shelf.

More from around the NL West…

  • The Dodgers watched as Shohei Ohtani continued his slow-going return to pitching earlier today, as Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report that the superstar threw two innings of live BP against the Dodgers’ minor league hitters this afternoon. Harris notes that’s a slight uptick from last week’s 22 pitches, and that Ohtani recorded one strikeout and one walk along during the session. After the session, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including USA Today’s Bob Nightengale) that the outing was a “positive” one for Ohtani, though his command wasn’t quite as sharp as his last time out. That Ohtani is continuing to make progress in his rehab is encouraging, although he remains expected to not pitch until some point in the second half of the season. Fortunately, rehabbing hasn’t seemed to slow him down one bit at the plate, as he entered play today slashing .294/.394/.670 with a 187 wRC+, 22 homers and 11 steals.
  • The Giants could be looking to make a change at first base in the near future, even with top prospect Bryce Eldridge not yet at Triple-A. As Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on yesterday, the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento tabbed former top prospect Marco Luciano to serve as their first baseman in a game earlier this week. It’s a new position for the 23-year-old, who has already appeared at second base, shortstop, and in left field over the years, but Rubin notes that the River Cats are expected to continue using Luciano at first going forward as concern mounts about the club’s production at the position in the majors. LaMonte Wade Jr. is the club’s starter at the position, but after entering the year with a 115 wRC+ in a Giants uniform he’s slashed just .171/.278/.279 with a wRC+ of 60 across 48 games. Luciano has yet to hit in the majors himself, with a career 68 wRC+ in the majors, but even his meager production in 126 career plate appearances would be an improvement over Wade’s numbers this season. Plus, Luciano is a former consensus top-20 prospect in the sport who may be able to tap into that potential if offered regular reps at the big league level. While Luciano begins to learn the new position, the Giants will hope that Jerar Encarnación’s eventual return from the injured list is enough to help improve the club’s first base production going forward.

Giants Notes: Hicks, Encarnacion, First Base

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Giants right-hander Jordan Hicks made his eighth start of the season on Friday, posting six innings of three-run ball against the Twins. He struck out six while issuing zero walks in the quality effort, but even after that outing his season ERA sits at a lackluster 5.82. The right-hander’s difficult start to the season has led to questions about whether or not he’ll continue to get starts in the San Francisco rotation, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that manager Bob Melvin stood by the 28-year-old in his comments after Friday’s game.

While Melvin acknowledged that the possibility of a return to the bullpen is “always potentially there” due the hard-throwing righty’s years of success in a relief role with the Cardinals, he added that the Giants are “not talking about that at this point.” The presence of Hicks in the rotation alongside veterans Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, and Robbie Ray leaves just one spot in the club’s starting mix for a young arm. That spot is currently being occupied by Landen Roupp, who has a lackluster 4.89 ERA in seven starts this year but strong peripherals, including a 3.95 FIP.

The inclusion of Roupp and Hicks in the rotation leaves right-hander Hayden Birdsong and southpaw Kyle Harrison both limited to bullpen roles for the time being. Both have taken to their new jobs quite well, with Birdsong posting a 1.47 ERA in 18 1/3 innings of work out of the bullpen this season while Harrison has five strikeouts in three hitless innings since being called up to the majors last week. Both hurlers clearly have the arsenals necessary to start, but it’s unclear when an opportunity for either player will arise barring injuries within the current starting five.

Moving on to the lineup, the club has been without slugger Jerar Encarnacion all season after suffering a fracture in his hand just before Opening Day and undergoing surgery shortly thereafter. Encarnacion slashed .248/.277/.425 in 35 games for the Giants last year and a strong camp with San Francisco earned him the opportunity to serve as their everyday DH this year before his injury changed things. Since then, veteran Wilmer Flores has taken over as the club’s primary DH and has bounced back from a lackluster 2024 season to hit a solid .245/.295/.410 in 149 trips to the plate so far this year.

Slusser writes that the Giants like the idea of keeping Flores in that primary DH role in order to keep the 33-year-old healthier throughout the season. That might seem as though it leaves Encarnacion, primarily an outfielder and DH, without a spot in the lineup as he gears up for a rehab assignment, but Slusser notes that Melvin told reporters Encarnacion will be seeing time at first base during his rehab assignment. LaMonte Wade Jr. has hit a paltry .150./246/.252 in 123 plate appearances as the club’s primary first baseman this year, and Encarnacion could potentially take over the position for the time being, or at least provide a possible offensive upgrade over David Villar as a platoon partner for Wade. Whoever gets reps at first base will be feeling pressure from the minor leagues given the presence of consensus top-25 prospect Bryce Eldridge in the minors, but the 20-year-old has just 15 games at the Double-A level this year and is unlikely to be considered for a promotion to the majors until later in the year if he’s even on the radar to debut this year at all.

Giants Select David Villar, Place Casey Schmitt On Injured List

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The Giants announced a series of roster moves this morning, highlighted by the club selecting the contract of infielder David Villar. Infielder Casey Schmitt was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain, which clears a spot for Villar on the active roster, and a 40-man roster spot for Villar was created by transferring slugger Jerar Encarnacion to the 60-day injured list.

Villar, 28, has been a generally passable but unspectacular utility infielder for the Giants since he made his big league debut with the club back in 2022. In 109 big league games since then, he’s hit a slightly below league average .200/.288/.400 with a massive 32.4% strikeout rate that he somewhat makes up for with substantial power that could translate to 25-to-30 homers if given a full season’s worth of plate appearances. He pairs that power with the ability to play capable defense at first, second, or third base as necessary despite the majority of his working having come at the hot corner.

He’s always raked against Triple-A pitching, as evidenced by his .273/.381/.507 career line across parts of four seasons at the level. Unfortunately for Villar, however, he’s yet to prove himself in the majors and is currently out of options. That led the Giants to prefer carrying optionable bench pieces like Schmitt and Brett Wisely to open the year, leaving them to designate him for assignment just prior to Opening Day. He ultimately went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to the minor leagues by the Giants, where he resumed hitting extremely well over 15 games before today’s call-up. The right-handed hitting Villar figures to back up Matt Chapman and Tyler Fitzgerald at second and third base, but most of his playing time could come in a platoon with struggling lefty LaMonte Wade Jr. after his previous platoon partner Schmitt hit the injured list.

Speaking of Schmitt, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that he was likely to head to the shelf after he suffered an oblique strain while hitting in the cages just before yesterday’s game. A timetable for Schmitt’s return is unlikely to be available until after he’s undergone testing to determine the severity of the strain, but he’ll be out for the next ten days at least even if the strain turns out to be extremely mild. It’s been a tough start to the year for Schmitt so far, as he’s hit just .174/.208/.261 in his current part-time role with the club. Of course, those numbers came in just eight games and 24 plate appearances. A look at Schmitt’s work in 40 games last year, where he hit .252/.283/.477, is far more encouraging and comes in a more robust (though still fairly small) sample of 113 plate appearances.

As for Encarnacion, his placement on the 60-day IL is hardly a surprise. The slugger was ticketed for a regular DH job with the Giants but suffered a hand fracture just before Opening Day and is expected to miss at least eight weeks due to the issue. That means he could be transferred without it impacting his potential timeline for return at all, as his minimum stay on the IL will expire in late May, right away the most optimistic date for his expected return to action. The 27-year-old was a league average hitter for the Giants in 35 games last year and got the club’s attention after raking for the Mexican League’s Guerreros de Oaxaca and the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento.

Giants’ Jerar Encarnacion To Miss Eight Weeks After Hand Surgery

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Jerar Encarnacion suffered a fracture in his left hand (near his ring finger) eight days ago, and the Giants outfielder underwent surgery on his hand yesterday.  The Giants were holding off a set timeline on Encarnacion’s recovery until the surgery was complete, and the team announced today that Encarnacion will be out of action for eight weeks.  Encarnacion began the season on San Francisco’s 10-day injured list, but given this new information, it seems like the club could move him to the 60-day IL (officially sidelining Encarnacion until at least late May) whenever a 40-man roster spot is needed.

The injury was suffered when Encarnacion dove for a ball in the outfield during a Spring Training game on March 21.  Initially, the injury was described as a jammed finger, and Encarnacion also said he was facing a recovery time of around 4-6 weeks since the issue was a hairline fracture in the ring finger.  However, more tests seemingly revealed more serious damage, leading to an even longer IL stay for the 27-year-old.

Encarnacion made his MLB debut in the form of 23 games and 81 plate appearances with the Marlins in 2022, and he didn’t return to the big leagues until his minor league contract with the Giants was selected to the club’s active roster last August.  In between, Encarnacion’s bat was on fire for much of the 2024 season — first during a stint in the Mexican League, and then with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.  That big production got him another look at the Major League level, and Encarnacion then hit .248/.277/.425 with five home runs over his 119 PA in a San Francisco uniform.

While not exceptional numbers, Encarnacion did enough to keep himself on the radar for an increased role in the 2025 lineup.  Until his injury unfortunately spoiled things, Encarnacion was having a strong spring camp, and was projected to be the Giants’ primary DH.  Encarnacion has never been considered a great defensive player, yet he might well have also gotten some playing time as a right-handed hitting complement to lefty swingers Mike Yastrzemski or LaMonte Wade Jr. in right field or at first base.

The Giants have other right-handed depth available, and Encarnacion’s injury most directly opened the door for rookie Christian Koss to make the Opening Day roster.  Wilmer Flores will probably get the majority of DH at-bats until Encarnacion is back, though the Giants could opt to just cycle multiple players through the DH spot to keep everyone fresh.

Giants Select Christian Koss

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The Giants announced that they’ve selected infielder Christian Koss onto the 40-man roster. He’ll break camp and will make his major league debut once he gets into a game. San Francisco optioned Grant McCray and Brett Wisely while reassigning non-roster invitees Joel Peguero and Max Stassi to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants also placed Jerar Encarnacion on the 10-day injured list with a fracture in his left hand that’ll require surgery. They placed catcher Tom Murphy on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Koss.

Koss, 27, is entering his second season in the San Francisco organization. The Giants acquired him from the Red Sox in a minor league deal on the eve of the ’24 campaign. It was the second trade of his career. Koss was initially a 12th-round pick by Colorado and went to the Red Sox in a minor trade in 2020. He reached Triple-A in the Boston system before being traded.

The UC-Irvine product divided his first season with San Francisco between the top two minor league levels. He raked at a .386/.453/.627 clip over 25 Double-A games but posted a more modest .257/.332/.415 line across 197 Triple-A plate appearances. Koss played quite well in Spring Training, hitting .341 with five walks and seven strikeouts through 47 trips to the plate. He can bounce around the infield and provides a speed element off the bench. Koss and Casey Schmitt will work as utility players behind Tyler Fitzgerald, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman.

Murphy, who has dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his career, is currently shelved with a herniated disc in his back. He has received multiple epidural injections. He’ll miss at least the first two months of the season. Sam Huff will begin the season as the backup catcher behind Patrick Bailey.

Giants’ Jerar Encarnacion To Undergo Hand Surgery

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TODAY: Encarnacion will undergo surgery on his injured hand tomorrow, according to multiple Giants beat writers.  The team will release a timeline for Encarnacion’s recovery once the procedure is complete, which could hint that there is more damage than just the fractured finger.

MARCH 22, 12:22PM: Contrary to the Giants’ initial report, Encarnacion told the San Jose Mercury News’ Justice delos Santos and other media that the injury was indeed limited to just his left ring finger.  The hairline feature will need roughly 4-6 weeks of recovery time.

11:38AM: Jerar Encarnacion sustained a fractured left hand while diving for a ball in the Giants’ Cactus League game yesterday, the team told reporters (including Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle).  More testing will be done to explore the full extent of the injury, but Encarnacion will certainly be starting the year on the Giants’ injured list.

Encarnacion was removed from the game with what was initially described a jammed left ring finger, though the first round of scans revealed the more serious hand fracture.  As noted by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the fact that Encarnacion is getting more tests could hint that surgery might be required, which would mean an even longer stint on the sidelines for the 27-year-old.

It’s a tough setback for a player who was viewed as a strong candidate to earn the bulk of the Giants’ DH at-bats.  Encarnacion was hitting .302/.309/.547 with two homers over 55 Spring Training plate appearances, building on the power he displayed over 119 PA (.248/.277/.425) at the MLB level last season.  As a right-handed hitter, Encarnacion also could’ve found playing time as a complement to the left-handed hitting LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base, or for Mike Yastrzemski in right field.

With Encarnacion now out of action, Slusser figures both Luis Matos and Grant McCray have a path to breaking camp with the Giants.  Matos is a right-handed hitter who can now perhaps slide into the role of spelling Yaz against southpaws, while Wilmer Flores should split time with Wade when Flores isn’t also getting a good chunk of DH time.  Jung Hoo Lee has been bothered by a bad back in the late stages of San Francisco’s camp, and while Lee’s issue isn’t thought to be too serious, his potential absence along with Encarnacion’s injury might leave the Giants with a couple of sudden roster holes to address as Opening Day approaches.

Giants Designate Derek Hill For Assignment

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The Giants announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder Mark Canha, acquired before the trade deadline, was added to the roster. They also selected outfielder Jerar Encarnación, a move that was previously reported, and reinstated right-hander Sean Hjelle from the bereavement list. To open roster spots for those three, the club optioned catcher Blake Sabol and infielder David Villar while outfielder Derek Hill was designated for assignment.

Hill, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Rangers just over a week ago. He got into five games since then, producing a line of .250/.308/.417 in 13 plate appearances. Combined with his time with the Rangers earlier in the season, he has a line of .255/.293/.455 for the year, which translates to a 107 wRC+ in 58 plate appearances.

Despite that generally cromulent performance, Hill keeps getting nudged off rosters since he’s out of options. The Rangers signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and he got up to the majors with them for a couple of weeks starting in late May before being cut and re-signing another minor league deal with that club. He was selected back to the roster in late June and got another few weeks before going to the Giants on waivers.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, Hill will be on waivers again shortly since the Giants will have no other choice. Perhaps Hill will be claimed by some club that just did some selling at the deadline and has playing time available. If he were to be grabbed off waivers, the claiming club would be receiving a guy who has yet to qualify for arbitration and who can be controlled for four additional seasons after this one.

He hasn’t been able to do too much with his major league opportunities. Despite this year’s performance, he has a career line of .233/.281/.337 in 362 plate appearances. But he has 12 steals and some decent marks for his outfield glovework at all three spots. He’s also hit .297/.360/.492 in just under a thousand plate appearances in the minor leagues since the start of 2021, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 115, which could tempt a club to give him some at-bats down the stretch here in 2024.

Giants To Select Jerar Encarnacion

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The Giants are planning to add outfielder/first baseman Jerar Encarnacion to the active roster prior to tomorrow’s series opener against the Reds, reports Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Encarnacion is currently traveling with the team to Cincinnati, he adds. The Giants will need to formally select Encarnacion’s contract to the 40-man roster, but with multiple vacancies at the moment, they’ll only need a corresponding 26-man move to activate him.

It’s been an unusual rise to the majors for the 26-year-old Encarnacion. He briefly made his big league debut with the 2022 Marlins after spending four years ranked near the back half of their organizational top 30 prospects but hit just .182/.210/.338 in 83 plate appearances. Miami passed him through waivers unclaimed last summer, and Encarnacion became a minor league free agent at season’s end. He found minimal interest from MLB clubs and wound up signing with los Guerreros de Oaxaca in the Mexican League.

Encarnacion decimated Mexican League pitching, hitting .366/.439/.989 with an outrageous 19 home runs in just 107 trips to the plate. Even in an extreme hitter-friendly setting, that output caught the attention of big league clubs. The Giants scooped him up on a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Sacramento, where he’s turned in a .352/.438/.616 slash with 10 homers in 146 plate appearances. As with the Mexican League, the Triple-A Pacific Coast League is immensely hitter-friendly, but Encarnacion’s production still sits 59% better than league-average there, by measure of wRC+.

Although he’s primarily been a corner outfielder in his career, the hulking 6’4″, 250-pound Encarnacion does have more than 600 innings of experience at first base. That includes five games in the past week for the Giants. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that the Giants have been getting him some fresh reps there in advance of an expected call to the majors.

Encarnacion will add a right-handed bat with clear plus power to the Giants’ first base and corner outfield mix. San Francisco presently has Wilmer Flores on the injured list (and struggling to produce even when healthy), while fellow righty-swinging corner bat David Villar is hitting .257/.270/.457 with a 35% strikeout rate. That’s a sample of only 37 plate appearances, but Villar also hit just .142/.236/.315 in 140 MLB plate appearances last season.

Encarnacion himself has had considerable strikeout issues in the past, so he’s hardly a sure thing to hit in the majors this time around. He fanned in a staggering 38.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances with the Marlins just last season, though he also walked enough (15.1%) and hit for enough power (26 homers, .224  ISO) to salvage a .228/.347/.452 batting line in Jacksonville. He’s cut his strikeout rate to 24% with the River Cats this season and is still drawing walks in 12.3% of his trips to the plate. Those encouraging trends, coupled with the gargantuan production he’s displayed in Mexico and Sacramento, make Encarnacion a more interesting post-deadline call-up than a garden variety change-of-scenery prospect.

Giants, Jerar Encarnación Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants and Jerar Encarnación are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Mike Rodriguez on X. The outfielder had been with Guerreros de Oaxaca in the Mexican League, who also posted on X about the deal with the Giants. It’s not yet official as Encarnación is still waiting on his work visa and needs to take his physical, per Rodriguez.

Encarnación, 26, came up as a prospect in the Marlins’ system and spent some time in the big leagues with them. He was outrighted off their roster in July of last year and was able to elect free agency at the end of the season.

He has shown big power throughout his career but also a troubling tendency to strike out. In his 81 major league plate appearances in 2022, he hit three home runs but was also punched out in 39.5% of them. He spent all of last year in Triple-A, getting into 122 games at that level. He hit 26 homers there but also struck out 38.8% of the time.

With Oaxaca this year, he stepped to the plate 107 times and amazingly launched 19 home runs. That helped him produce an absurd batting line of .366/.439/.989. His 24.3% strikeout rate wasn’t as bad as his most recent stint in affiliated ball, though it’s hard to quantify the quality of pitching he’s been facing in Mexico.

It’s understandable why the Giants are willing to give him a shot and see if he can bring that strong performance with him to their system. They currently have seven position players on the injured list, including four outfielders in Jung Hoo Lee, Jorge Soler, Austin Slater and Michael Conforto. While Blake Sabol can play some outfield, he’s tied to the catcher position now with Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy both on the IL. Wade Meckler is on the 40-man roster but dealing with a wrist injury in the minor leagues.

Mike Yastrzemski is the most established member of the outfield that’s currently healthy. The other two spots have mostly been filled by Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos lately, with each of those two fairly lacking in experience. Tyler Fitzgerald, who is also light on inexperience, is moving around to play both the outfield and the infield.

With all of those moving parts, the Giants will bring Encarnación to Triple-A Sacramento and see how he fares. If he keeps crushing the ball like he has been with the Guerreros, it’s not hard to see him earning some big league at-bats, whether he can tamp down the strikeouts or not.

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