Edwin Encarnación

Edwin Encarnación
Encarnacion in 2011
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 10
First baseman / Designated hitter
Born: (1983-01-07) January 7, 1983 La Romana, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 24, 2005 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through 2013 season)
Batting average	.265
Hits	1,007
Home runs	195
Runs batted in	606
OPS	.827
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2005–2009) Toronto Blue Jays (2009–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2013) NL Player of the Week (August 7–13, 2006) AL Player of the Week (July 22–28, 2013)

Edwin Elpidio Encarnación (born January 7, 1983), is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter^[1] for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He stands 6 ft 2 in and weighs 235 pounds.^[2]

Baseball career

Cincinnati Reds

Encarnación was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the ninth round of the 2000 amateur draft and signed with them. On June 15, 2001, he was traded, along with Rubén Mateo, to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitcher Rob Bell. He made his big league debut on June 24, 2005 and played in 69 games. He finished with a .232 batting average, 9 home runs, and 31 RBI.^[3]

In the 2006 season, Encarnación played 117 games for the Reds, and batted .276 with 15 home runs and 72 RBI.^[3] Encarnación won the National League Player of the Week award for the week of August 7–13. During the week, he led the league with 4 home runs and 24 total bases, batting .440 with 8 RBI.^[4]

In 2007 Encarnación started the year slowly, struggling to bat over .200. He was frequently benched in favor of Ryan Freel, which gave Josh Hamilton, who was attempting to resurrect his career after it was derailed by addiction to drugs and alcohol, more starts in center field. Encarnación was benched again at one point by then manager Jerry Narron for not running out a fly ball.^[5] On May 10, 2007, Encarnación was demoted to the Reds' Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky, the Bats. He was recalled to the Major Leagues on May 22, 2007. For the 2007 season, Encarnación batted .289 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI.^[3]

In 2008, Encarnación set career highs in games played and home runs. He batted .251 in 146 games with 26 home runs and 68 RBI, and also struck out 102 times, the first time he had struck out more than 100 times in his career.^[3]

For the 2009 season, Encarnación stated that he wanted to be more consistent as a hitter who did not try to hit home runs in every at bat: "I want to try to stay more to the middle. Last year, I tried to pull too many balls and hit more homers. That's why my average went down. I will be more consistent as a hitter. I know I can do it. I've done it before. I know I can hit better than that and I just have to keep working".^[6] Encarnación played in 43 games with the Reds in the 2009 season, batting just .209 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI before being traded to Toronto.^[3]

Toronto Blue Jays

2009–2011

Encarnación during the 2011 regular season

Encarnación, along with right-handed pitchers Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Scott Rolen on July 31, 2009. It was reported that then Blue Jays General Manager J. P. Ricciardi was only interested in acquiring Roenicke and Stewart, but Cincinnati would not accept the trade unless the Blue Jays also took on Encarnación. The trade was later named the number 4 best midseason trade in Blue Jays franchise history by Gregor Chisholm.^[7] Encarnación would play in 42 games for the Blue Jays during the 2009 season, and bat .240 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.^[3]

During the offseason, Encarnación suffered first and second-degree burns to the forehead and the right side of his face when a rocket firecracker hit him in the jaw and exploded near his mouth. After initially being treated near his Dominican Republic home, Encarnacion was transferred to a Miami hospital. He was discharged less than two days after the incident.^[8]

Encarnación missed 30 games through April and May 2010 with a right arm injury, before returning on May 18, 2010. He hit a home run in his first at bat since the injury against the Minnesota Twins. On May 21, he had three home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks, homering in three straight at-bats.^[9] On June 20, after a loss to the Giants, Encarnacion was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.^[10] However, in a surprise move, he was designated for assignment the next day by the Blue Jays.^[11] Encarnación was eventually assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas on June 23, 2010, but was later called up to the Blue Jays again on July 2, 2010 after a struggling performance by Encarnacion's replacement, Jarrett Hoffpauir.^[12] He hit his 100th career home run against the Minnesota Twins on the last day of the season, and also became the Jays' 7th player of the 2010 season with 20 or more home runs. Encarnación finished the 2010 season with a batting average of .244, 21 home runs and 51 RBI.^[3]

On November 12, 2010, Encarnacion was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics. On December 2, he was non-tendered by the Athletics, making him a free agent.^[13]

He would later rejoin the Blue Jays on December 16, 2010 to a new one-year deal worth $2.5 million plus a club option worth $3.5 million in 2012. He began 2011 season playing third base for the Blue Jays and struggled offensively. His numbers improved significantly after he was moved to the designated hitter position. In a game against the Boston Red Sox on September 7, 2011, Encarnacion set a new career record for doubles in a single season with 34. On September 22, Encarnacion hit a walk-off home run off the Rogers Sportsnet One sign in the 12th inning against Angels rookie Garrett Richards. In 2011, Encarnación batted .272 with 17 home runs and 55 RBI.^[3]

On October 31, 2011, the Jays picked up the $3.5 million club option for the 2012 season.^[14]

2012–present

In a game against the Seattle Mariners on April 28, 2012, Encarnación hit his fourth career grand slam in the 8th inning leading the Blue Jays to a 7-0 win.^[15] His grand slam marked the first time that Encarnación held his arm out in his trademark "chicken-wing" fashion while rounding the bases.^[16]

On April 30, 2012, in a home game against the Texas Rangers, Encarnación hit the first home run off of starter Yu Darvish.^[17] In an inter-league game against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 19, Encarnación hit the last of three straight solo home runs by the Blue Jays, following Colby Rasmus and José Bautista, the first time in the 2012 season that the Jays went back-to-back-to-back with home runs, and only the sixth time in franchise history.^[18] On July 12, Encarnación signed a 3-year, $27 million contract extension with Toronto.^[19] The deal includes a $10 million club option for the 2016 season.^[20]

On September 13, 2012, in a home game against the Seattle Mariners, Encarnación hit his 40th home run of the season (off starter Félix Hernández), and recorded his 100th RBI of the season, marking the first time in his career that he had surpassed 40 home runs and 100 RBI.^[21] Encarnación was unanimously named by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) as the Blue Jays Player of the Year on November 28, 2012. He also received the Most Improved Player award for the Jays.^[22]

On May 23, 2013, Encarnación hit his fifth career grand slam to give the Blue Jays an 8–3 lead over the Baltimore Orioles. The Jays would win the game 12–6.^[23]

On July 6, 2013, Encarnación was named to his first all-star game as a reserve designated hitter for the American League. Encarnación was one of four Blue Jays to be named, the others being Jose Bautista, Brett Cecil, and Steve Delabar. Up to the All-Star break, Encarnación posted a triple-slash of .264/.353/.532 with 25 home runs and 72 RBI. In the All-Star Game, Encarnación entered as a pinch-hitter for David Ortiz in the seventh inning, and finished the game 0–2. In a game against the Houston Astros on July 26, 2013, Encarnación became only the second Blue Jay in franchise history to hit two home runs in one inning, joining Joe Carter who did so on October 3, 1993 – tying the Major League record for most home runs in an inning.^[24][25] Leading off the 7th inning behind at 6–4, Encarnación hit a solo home run and would later hit his sixth career grand slam, receiving a curtain call afterwards as the Blue Jays would score 8 runs in the inning and lead 12–6.^[26] He was named the American League Player of the Week on July 29, after batting .520 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, and 8 RBI over the prior week.^[27] Encarnación hit his 30th home run of the season on August 7, 2013, against the Seattle Mariners. In doing so, he recorded back-to-back 30 home run seasons for the first time in his career. Playing against the Kansas City Royals on August 31, 2013, Encarnación recorded his 1,000th career hit, a single off Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie. On September 2, he reached 100 RBI for the second consecutive season on a two-run home run against Brandon McCarthy of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent time on the bench in mid September with a wrist injury, but made a brief comeback before being placed on the disabled list on September 17.^[28] He underwent successful surgery on September 19, and is expected to be fully recovered in time for 2014 spring training.^[29] Encarnación finished the 2013 season with a .272 average, 36 home runs, and 104 RBI. He finished with more walks than strikeouts for the first time in his career, with 82 and 62 respectively.^[3]

See also

• 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
• List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
• Major League Baseball Player of the Week Award

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edwin Encarnación.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Edwin Encarnación on Twitter