Emerging San Francisco Giants Slugger Leaves Game with Apparent Injury

With less than a week before the San Francisco Giants open the regular season, they’re dealing with a potential injury to a slugger they hoped would be a key part of their rotation in the outfield.

Jerar Encarnacion, who was emerging as a consistent bat during spring training and in the hunt for a key role, left Friday’s game with an apparent injury to his left ring finger as he attempted to make a diving catch in the seventh inning.

MLB.com described it as a “jam.” It appeared his glove was caught on the ground as he tried to make the catch. Giants manager Bob Melvin said that Encarnacion would have imaging done on the injury and the team would not provide a prognosis before then.

The timing is unfortunate for the 27-year-old outfielder and designated hitter, as he is having his most productive Major League camp. The Dominican Republic native was slashing .302/.309/.547/.856 two home runs and a spring training career-high 14 RBI.

That built on the 35 games he played for the Giants last season, where he slashed .248/.277/.425/.702 with five home runs and 19 RBI.

San Francisco signed him to a minor-league contract last May, assigned him to their Arizona Complex League and then promoted him to Triple-A Sacramento before he joined the Giants on Aug. 2.

Before that, he played 23 games with the Miami Marlins in 2022, as he slashed .182/.210/.338/.548 with three home runs and 14 RBI.

San Francisco has six outfielders on its 40-man roster and the hope is that last year’s big free-agent acquisition, Jung Hoo Lee, is ready to go for opening day. If so, the Giants should have coverage with Lee, Luis Matos, Grant McCray, Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski if Encarnacion is unable to be ready for the opener.

San Francisco also has Marco Luciano and Wade Meckler, who have both been optioned back to the minor leagues, if it needs to tap further into its depth.

The Giants wrap up their spring training schedule in Scottsdale on Saturday when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks. From there, San Francisco will fly to Sacramento for an exhibition game with the River Cats on Sunday. The Giants will host the Detroit Tigers in two more exhibition games at Oracle Park on Monday and Tuesday.

San Francisco opens the regular season at the Cincinnati Reds on March 27. After Cincinnati, the Giants play a series at the Houston Astros before their home opener on April 4 against the Seattle Mariners.