{"id":60703,"date":"2025-06-10T15:25:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T15:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=60703"},"modified":"2025-06-10T15:25:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T15:25:53","slug":"sf-giants-power-hitting-bats-role-has-nearly-disappeared-overnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=60703","title":{"rendered":"SF Giants power-hitting bat&#8217;s role has nearly disappeared overnight"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_400,w_6000,h_3375\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/40\/01jxahw28vzq0ba2x2af.jpg\" alt=\"San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants\" width=\"6000\" height=\"3375\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p>San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants | Suzanna Mitchell\/San Francisco Giants\/GettyImages<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">There was a lot of hype when Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n was nearing a return from a rehab assignment for the SF Giants. He has been back for almost a week, but his role with the club has seemingly disappeared overnight.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-1\">Power-hitting bat&#8217;s role with the SF Giants has seemingly disappeared overnight<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\">With LaMonte Wade Jr. struggling offensively, it looked like Encarnaci\u00f3n was poised to assume a lot of playing time at first base upon his return. The right-handed bat flashed plenty of raw power in his first season with San Francisco last year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\">There were plenty of wrinkles in Encarnaci\u00f3n&#8217;s profile, too. His strikeout rate was relatively high at 28.6 percent, putting pressure on his bat to hit with a lot of power. When hitters strike out at such a high rate, they need to offset that with above-average power.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">Plus, Encarnaci\u00f3n chased out of the zone too much, leading to a very low 4.2 percent walk rate. Not surprisingly, he posted a .277 on-base percentage in 119 plate appearances last year. There were just four qualified hitters with a worse mark than that in 2024, and most of them played a premium position like shortstop.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\">Lastly, the 27-year-old&#8217;s bat path resulted in too many ground balls. This did not allow his raw power to play up, so he made a lot of loud contact, but much of it was on the ground. This was a problem last season and continued through spring training and his rehab assignment.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\">Nevertheless, the Giants needed to try something new. With Encarnaci\u00f3n nearing a return, it looked like he would be one of the top options at first base. However, the Giants added veteran bat Dominic Smith in a roster shakeup. Smith and Encarnaci\u00f3n both play first base, but the former has more of a reliable track record.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">With the addition of Daniel Johnson, the playing time in the outfield has dried up, too. Of course, Encarnaci\u00f3n could see time at DH, but Wilmer Flores has been one of the Giants&#8217; best run producers, especially with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">Since returning from the injured list, Encarnaci\u00f3n has collected 11 hitless at-bats. He does not have much of a track record and is limited defensively, so he might not get a long leash at all. It is a mildly surprising turn of events for Encarnaci\u00f3n, as his role with the club has almost seemingly disappeared.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There was a lot of hype when Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n was nearing a return from a rehab assignment for the SF Giants. He has been back for almost a week, but his role<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SF Giants power-hitting bat&#039;s role has nearly disappeared overnight - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=60703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SF Giants power-hitting bat&#039;s role has nearly disappeared overnight - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There was a lot of hype when Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n was nearing a return from a rehab assignment for the SF Giants. 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