Giants finally consummate deal with former Marlin OF Jerar Encarnación
Giants finally consummate deal with former Marlin OF Jerar Encarnación
After a few days of inching closer to a deal, Mike Rodriguez, an MLB Insider reports tonight (with confirmation from the team) that the San Francisco Giants have signed the right-handed hitting 26-year old former Marlin outfielder Jerar Encarnación to a minor league deal.
Encarnación has hit .366/.439/.989 in 26 games (107 PA) for the Oaxaca Guerreros of the Mexican League and within that slash is a 34-for-93 wherein 19 of those 34 hits have been home runs. He also has one double in there for good measure.
Now, the Giants, being the smartest team in the history of professional sports, knows that a player with 19 home runs in 26 Mexican League games has had that number inflated by the elevation. If you watched the Giants last year, then you remember the Mexico City series against the Padres where a stadium 7,349 feet above sea level played like Coors Field+. Oaxaca sits at a much more Coors-like 5,102 feet.
This is all about adding some badly needed depth to the organization. As I opined on Monday, the Giants need bodies. Sure, I was thinking they go with a familiar face and a successful track record (as recently as last season) in Brandon Belt, but the Giants are opting for the youthful option that can actually do more than occasionally fill in at first while primarily DHing.
Encarnación committed 6 errors the last time he played in the MiLB — last season for Jacksonville in the International League. I’m just going to guess that he’s fine in the outfield. Probably a better option than Jorge Soler, if he somehow graduates to the big leagues. On that front, I think the future is uncertain. Along with those 6 fielding errors recorded in 2023, he hit just .228, but with a .347 OBP and .452 slug thanks to 26 home runs (in 516 PA), 17 doubles, and a triple. He also struck out 200 times against 78 walks. That’s 15% and 39%, respectively. Woof. And ouch. He’s at a much more respectable 2:1 K:BB ratio (26:13) in the early going for Oaxaca.
The Marlins gave him 81 PA in 2022 and he struck out 32 times in 81 PA and walked just 3 times — but, he did hit 3 home runs and 3 doubles. We’ll see if this 2024 K:BB is a sign that his swing decisions have improved or if the Giants are simply opting for the power upside and hoping the swing and miss doesn’t get quite so ugly. Or they just need another outfielder in Triple-A.