Red Sox pitching prospect Juan Daniel Encarnacion has been named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 6-12, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.
It is a well-deserved honor for Encarnacion, who was not even lined up to start for High-A Greenville this past Saturday. He was instead thrown into the fire after the Drive’s scheduled starter, David Sandlin, was scratched late due to forearm soreness.
In Sandlin’s place, Encarnacion spun a gem against the Hickory Crawdads at Fluor Field on short notice. The right-hander yielded zero hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with six strikeouts over five scoreless innings of work. He retired the first 13 batters he faced before running into some trouble in the top of the fifth.
After plunking Quincy Scott and issuing a one-out walk to Konner Piotto, Encarnacion got Benjamin Blackwell to ground out and Yosy Galan to pop out, thus extinguishing the threat. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 64 pitches (46 strikes) and induced 16 swings-and-misses but did not factor into the decision as Greenville ultimately fell to Hickory by a final score of 3-2.
Encarnacion now owns a 3.27 ERA and 3.26 FIP with 31 strikeouts to eight walks in five starts (22 innings) for the Drive this season. Among 60 pitchers in the South Atlantic League who have accrued at least 20 innings on the mound, Encarnacion ranks sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.68), 22nd in walks per nine innings (3.27), eighth in strikeout rate (33.3), 20th in walk rate (8.6 percent), 24th in batting average against (.207), 24th in WHIP (1.14), second in swinging-strike rate (17.3 percent), 25th in ERA, 17th in FIP, and 18th in xFIP (3.38), per FanGraphs.
A former international free agent who signed with the Red Sox for $40,000 in September 2018, Encarnacion has spent parts of the last three seasons (2022-2024) at the High-A level. The San Pedro de Macoris native struggled to a 6.32 ERA (6.05 FIP) across 99 2/3 innings for Greenville last year, so the results he has produced so far in 2024 are certainly encouraging.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 173 pounds, Encarnacion throws from a three-quarters arm slot and incorporates a medium-high leg kick into his delivery. As noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the lanky righty operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph, an 85-87 mph slider that features 10-to-4 break, and an 89-91 mph changeup.
Encarnacion, who does not turn 24 until next March, is not currently ranked by publications such as SoxProspects.com as one of the top pitching prospects in Boston’s farm system. He could, however, emerge as a candidate for a promotion to Double-A Portland before long if he continues to impress for Greenville.
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