Juan Encarnación

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Juan Encarnación

St. Louis Cardinals — No. 43
Right fielder
Born: March 8, 1976 (1976-03-08) (age 32)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
September 2, 1997 for the Detroit Tigers
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting average	.270
Home runs	156
Runs batted in	667
Teams
Detroit Tigers (1997-2001) Cincinnati Reds (2002) Florida Marlins (2002-2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) Florida Marlins (2004-2005) St. Louis Cardinals (2006-present)

Juan De Dios Encarnación (pronounced /ɛnkɑrnɑsiˈoʊn/, born March 8, 1976 in Las Matas de Farfan, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals.

[edit] Scouting report

Encarnacion was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1992, at age 17, and made his Major League debut in 1997 at age 21 for the Tigers. He was the fourth youngest player in the AL that year. Encarnacion can play all three outfield positions, but prefers right. He is known for having a serviceable bat and good speed, and although he has seldom been without a starting job, general consensus is that he has never played to his potential, due in part to his low on base percentage. A free swinger with low walk totals and about 100 strikeouts per year, he is better known for driving in runs than scoring them. And although he has good speed, he usually doesn't steal many bases (although he did have 33 in 1999). He is generally portrayed as a solid defender (fielding percentage of 1.000 in 2003), but can sometimes miss the routine plays.

[edit] Playing years

Encarnacion played for the Tigers until 2002, when he was traded and had his best season as a Cincinnati Red and Florida Marlin, hitting a career-high 24 home runs and driving in 85 runs. In 2003 he had 94 RBI as well as a team-leading 37 doubles on the way to a World Series ring with Florida, then was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in December of that year. He was traded back to Florida midway through the 2004 season along with Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota for Brad Penny, Bill Murphy, and Hee Seop Choi after hitting a disappointing .235 in 86 games. Encarnación bounced back with a solid year in 2005, batting .287 with 16 homers and 76 runs batted in. He was also on the roster for the Dominican team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. [1] Encarnacion signed a three-year contract with St. Louis on December 23, 2005, worth $15 million.

[edit] 2006 season

Encarnacion finished the 2006 season, his first with the Cardinals, batting .278 with 19 home runs and 79 RBI for the Cards, with 6 steals. He led the Cardinals in games played (153) and at-bats (557), was third in runs scored (74), second in hits (155), tied for fourth with Preston Wilson in doubles (25), tied for first with Aaron Miles in triples (5), tied for fourth with Jim Edmonds in home runs (19), third in RBI (79), third in total bases (247), tied for eighth with Chris Duncan in walks (30), third in strikeouts (86), sixth in steals (6), second in caught stealing (5), eleventh in on-base percentage (.317), sixth in slugging average (.443), and seventh in batting average (.278). He also had 265 put-outs, 4 assists, and 6 errors in 275 total chances, for a .978 fielding percentage. [2]

In the playoffs he was 8-for-44 (.182) with two triples and five RBI. He hit an RBI triple in Game 4 of the NLDS which turned out to be the game-winner, as the Cardinals went on to beat the Padres, 6 - 4, winning the series. However, he struggled the rest of the postseason and sat the final 3 games of the World Series, in which the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 1. Encarnacion confused many fans when he, without explanation, did not appear at the Cardinals' World Series victory parade. This marked the second time he has won a World Series but skipped the victory parade with the winning team; he also skipped the 2003 Florida Marlins World Series victory parade. It was later known that he went back to his home in Dominican Republic right after the World Series to tend to a matter with his son. [3]

[edit] 2007 season

The 2007 season marked Encarnacion's tenth in the Majors and his second with the Cardinals. Before the season, he had surgery on his left wrist, and was not ready for opening day. He started the year on the 15-day disabled list. [4] He rehabbed first in Florida in extended Spring Training, homering twice in three games. He didn't appear in any games during regular Spring Training. Next, had a rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Springfield. [5] Encarnacion batted only .155 (9-for-58) with 4 doubles and 4 runs batted in during the assignment. He returned to the Cardinals on Mother's Day, May 13, playing right field vs. San Diego, going 0-for-3. From May 30 to June 18, Encarnacion had an 18-game hitting streak, just one short of his career-high of 19, which he set in 2000. He lost some playing time after the emergence of pitcher-turned outfielder Rick Ankiel.

[edit] Eye Injury

On August 31, Encarnacion was struck in the face by a foul ball hit by Aaron Miles while he was on the on-deck circle. Encarnacion suffered multiple fractures to his left eye socket and an injury to his left eye and missed the remainder of the 2007 season. [6]

The injury was regarded by the Cardinals' head team physician, Dr. George Paletta, to be the the worst injury he'd ever seen to the face on a baseball player. Paletta said the eye socket was essentially crushed on impact, comparing the injured area to the disintegration of an egg shell or ice cream cone, and that the optic nerve had sustained severe trauma. Paletta also said the eyeball had not been ruptured.[7]

On January 16, 2008 it was reported that he would miss the entire 2008 season, and the future of his career is in serious jeopardy. [8]

On May 2, 2008, during a web chat hosted by MLB and the St. Louis Cardinals for fans to ask the teams new General Manager, John Mozeliak, was asked a question regarding the possiblity of Encarnacion returning to the team. Mozeliak stated "I'm sorry to say that he will not. His injury will likely result in his career ending." [9]

[edit] Feats

• In the next-to-the-last game ever played at Detroit's Tiger Stadium, in September of 1999, Encarnacion was hit in the face by a pitch and missed the remainder of the season. He received several stitches to close a wound to his jaw and lip.
• In August 2000 as a member of the Tigers, Encarnacion became one of the first notable victims of Comerica Park's 420 ft. center field fence as he tried to hit a walk-off home run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th but instead flied out to the center fielder after a 415 ft. frozen rope.
• Had two career best 19-game hitting streaks in 2000 with Detroit. [10]
• In 2003, was one of just three outfielders without an error, with Milwaukee's Geoff Jenkins and St. Louis' Orlando Palmeiro. Also was the first Marlin's outfielder to post a 1.000 fielding percentage in their history.
• His stint of 227 errorless games in the outfield was the second-longest streak in baseball behind the Met's Joe McEwing (228). [11]
• Up until the 2005 season, did not commit an error at Dolphins Stadium, in 138 games as a Marlin and 5 as an opponent. [12]
• Hit two grand slams in April of 2005 (including one off Atlanta's John Smoltz on Opening Day), and became just the 16th player in history to record grand slams in their first two homers of the season. Encarnacion only had one grand slam in his career prior to that. He finished April with 23 RBI, tied for the fourth-highest total in Marlin history for April. [13]
• Has 4 career multi-homer games, two of them coming in 2006 with the Cardinals.
• On April 13, 2006, Encarnacion hit a long drive to deep left field in the 10th innning of a 3-3 tie. However, the potential walk-off homer was pulled back into the yard by the Milwaukee Brewers' Carlos Lee. [14]
• On April 25, 2006, Encarnacion fell a single short of a cycle against the Pittsburgh Pirates. [15]
• His 46 career triples rank 28th among active players. [16]
• As of May 31, 2008, he was 396th on the All-Time Home Run List, tied with Ken McMullen and Bob Meusel, with 156 home runs.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• When Encarnacion comes up to bat at Busch Stadium, the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire plays. Earlier in 2006, the song "Numb / Encore" by Jay-Z and Linkin Park played.
• His brother, Seferino, was drafted by the Marlins in 2003. He also has a son, Adrian.
• He was born on the same day as Cincinnati Reds utility man Ryan Freel.

[edit] Statistics

Career Statistics:
Hitting (through August 31, 2007)

162-Game Season Average

[edit] Career honors and awards

• 1997 – Southern League All-Star Team (Double-A) (Outfielder)
• 1997 – Double-A All-Star Team (Baseball America)
• 1997 – Southern League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
• 1997 – Southern League's Best Batting Prospect, Best Outfield Arm, and Most Exciting Player (Baseball America)
• 1997 – One of baseball's Top 10 prospects (Howe Sportsdata)
• 1998 – Detroit's Player of the Month (September)
• 2000 – Detroit's Player of the Month (April)
• 2003 – World Series Champion (Florida Marlins)
• 2006 – World Series Champion (St. Louis Cardinals)

[edit] Annual salaries

• 1997 Detroit Tigers – Undetermined
• 1998 Detroit Tigers – $170,000
• 1999 Detroit Tigers – $233,000
• 2000 Detroit Tigers – $325,000
• 2001 Detroit Tigers – $4,400,000
• 2002 Cincinnati Reds – $1,565,000
• 2003 Florida Marlins – $3,450,000
• 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers – $3,565,000
• 2005 Florida Marlins – $4,435,000
• 2006 St. Louis Cardinals – $3,500,000
• 2007 St. Louis Cardinals- $5,000,000

[edit] Uniform numbers

• Wore #34 as a member of the Detroit Tigers.
• Wore #34 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
• Wore #43 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Wore #43 as a member of the Florida Marlins.
• Wore #43 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Wore #19 as a member of the Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic Team.

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time

[edit] External links

• MLB.com profile
• Juan Encarnacion at ESPN.com
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Yahoo! Sports stats and photos from Yahoo! Sports
• Baseball Almanac - career stats
• BaseballLibrary.com - info and biography
• TSN.ca - scouting report, transactions, awards, etc.