After two rocky years, Marlins prospect Jerar Encarnacion ready to ‘keep working ahead’
.jpg "Miami Marlins outfielder prospect Jerar Encarnacion at the plate during the Double A Pensacola Blue Wahoo’s 6-4 win over the Montgomery Biscuits on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.")
It was three years ago when Jerar Encarnacion began to burst onto the scene.
The Miami Marlins’ outfielder prospect had a breakout 2019 season, leading the team’s minor-league system with 71 RBIs and finishing second with 43 extra-base hits (including 16 home runs) before heading to the Arizona Fall League and hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the league’s title game.
Since then?
Encarnacion lost his 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic and was limited to work at the Marlins’ alternate training site.
He then was hampered by a right knee injury in 2021. He played just 65 games.
And then the league-imposed lockout this offseason kept him from participating with his fellow prospects in the Marlins’ extended development camp because he is a member of the team’s 40-man roster.
Encarnacion, however, is not one for excuses. Instead, he’s looking at the path ahead, finding out what he can do to get his career on track.
“Just keep going,” Encarnacion, 24, said during spring training. “Keep working ahead.”
So far this season, things have been working out.
Encarnacion, the 23rd-ranked prospect in Miami’s system according to MLB Pipeline, has gotten off to one of the best starts at the plate in the minor leagues.
He had a .367 batting average to go along with a .441 on-base percentage, .667 slugging and 1.108 on-base-plus-slugging mark through his first 15 games of 2022 with the Double A Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Most of this success came during an 11-game hitting streak that was snapped on Sunday. In that stretch, from April 12 through Saturday, Encarnacion batted .500 (21 for 42) with three doubles, all five of his home runs so far this season, 10 RBI, 12 runs scored, three stolen bases and six walks against just nine strikeouts.
While Encarnacion hasn’t been close to cracking the big-league roster just yet, he has left an impression on Marlins manager Don Mattingly based on his short stints in spring training the past few years.
“A couple of years ago when he was here, you could see his really true opposite-field power,” Mattingly said. “The ballpark’s not going to hold him. He just needs to keep playing. Get more experience with different styles of pitching. ... He is another guy that’s coming but you don’t really hear much about. They don’t talk about Jerar very often, but he is a guy that’s going to be dangerous.”
Another value Encarnacion brings: Defensive versatility. While he is naturally an outfielder, he has been getting reps at first base the past couple years to give him another avenue to advance through Miami’s system. Three of his 15 starts this season have been at first base, 10 in right field and two in left field.
In spring, Encarnacion said he still didn’t feel “fully comfortable” at first base, “but it’s something that I keep working every day.”
“I hope to get better,” Encarnacion said.
He’ll keep going. Keep working ahead.
Max Meyer vs. Ronald Acuna Jr.
Twice one of the Marlins’ fast-rising top pitching prospects faced one of the top hitters in baseball.
Twice Max Meyer put up an impressive showing against Ronald Acuna Jr.
Acuna is rehabbing with the Atlanta Braves’ Triple A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers, as he returns from a torn ACL and began playing games last week.
His first matchup: A six-game series with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Marlins’ Triple A affiliate.
Meyer started the series opener on Tuesday as well as the finale on Sunday and held his own against one of MLB’s young stars.
On Tuesday, Meyer held Acuna to one hit — a double to the wall in right-center field — over three plate appearances. Acuna lined out to center field and grounded out to third base the other two times they matched up.
On Sunday, Meyer struck out Acuna twice and walked him once.
Through four starts, Meyer has a 1.83 ERA with 27 strikeouts against just five walks in 19 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting just .130 against him.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 11:25 AM.
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