Giants Baseball Insider

San Francisco Giants Star Slugger Suffers Devastating Injury Ahead of Opening Day

The San Francisco Giants will be without one of their star sluggers after he suffered an injury.

Brad Wakai

Sep 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Jerar Encarnacion (59) hits a two-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Oracle Park
Sep 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Jerar Encarnacion (59) hits a two-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Oracle Park / John Hefti-Imagn Images
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The San Francisco Giants were dealt some tough news on Saturday.

Following Jerar Encarnacion leaving Friday's spring training game after being hit by a pitch, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported the slugger suffered a fractured hand that will require more testing.

This is brutal for both parties.

Encarnacion had put together a great spring, slashing .302/.309/.547 with two homers, seven doubles and 14 RBI across his 20 games and 54 plate appearances.

It looked like he was going to be in line for a larger role this season, both at the designated hitter spot and in the outfield at times against left-handed pitching.

The 27-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Giants in May of last year, getting called up on Aug. 2 for his first appearance in the bigs since 2022 when he was with the Miami Marlins.

Encarnacion slashed .248/.277/.425 with five homers and 19 RBI in 35 games with San Francisco during the 2024 campaign, giving the organization confidence he could be poised for a breakout this season.

That looked like the case during the spring, but now he will miss extended time.

No timetable has been released yet, something that will likely come following the additional testing, but the Giants will now be without one of their power hitters and outfield options for Opening Day and the early part of the year.

Where San Francisco goes from here will be seen.

Grant McCray and Luis Matos are both on the 40-man roster and could be where the Giants turn for their internal choices.

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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently is the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. He is also a contributor at FanSided, writing about the Philadelphia 76ers for The Sixers Sense. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai

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