CINCINNATI — It’s been a cool first few days back in the major leagues for Jerar Encarnacion, who started the year in the Mexican League.
He had a no-hitter one night. He hit a home run the next night.
At least one of those situations has become routine for the big 26-year-old outfielder. After being unsigned last winter, Encarnacion proved himself in Oaxaca and hit 19 homers in 26 games, then another 10 hits after joining Triple-A Sacramento in June.
But nearly two years — 686 days — separated Encarnacion’s third and fourth career major league home runs.
Arriving at Great American Ballpark on Friday, Encarnacion stepped out of the dugout and looked around, taking in the big league scenery, and he happened to cross paths with rookie reliever Spencer Bivens, who took an even more winding route to the Giants’ bullpen.
“It takes a lot of mental toughness,” Bivens said. “I admire his work ethic. I don’t really know why he didn’t get drafted, but I’m really glad we got him.”
Like Encarnacion last winter, Bivens didn’t have a single team contact him when his time at Division III Rogers State ended in 2018. He went to France — his only opportunity to play professionally — and eventually made it back to independent baseball, where the Giants found him in May 2022.
In June, two weeks before his 30th birthday, Bivens made his MLB debut. With a 2.08 ERA in 21⅔ innings over 10 appearances, he has since established himself to the point that the Giants didn’t hesitate to part ways with Luke Jackson at the trade deadline.
Bivens sees at least one parallel between their long journeys.
“It’s just that we got here,” he said. “It took everything it took to get here, but we got here.”
Ramos’ thumb
Encarnacion replaced Mike Yastrzemski for the final two innings of Blake Snell’s no-hitter Friday night, but he was the late-game replacement the next night, hitting just one home run after replacing Heliot Ramos in the top of the seventh inning.
Ramos was forced to leave the match due to a right thumb injury that he has been suffering from for about a week.
While it didn’t land him on the injured list, Ramos said the injury compromised his batting enough that he was able to leave the game after his at-bat in the top of the sixth inning. He was struck out on a swing, and Ramos said, “I didn’t even want to hit the ball.”
Ramos said he initially suffered the injury last Saturday during the Giants’ doubleheader against the Rockies. He had two days off and said he felt “good” Tuesday, “but then it just got worse.” He was jammed twice Friday night, he said, “and it just got worse.”
Since last Saturday, Ramos has been limited to three hits — all singles — in 21 at-bats with seven strikeouts, dropping his OPS to .835, his lowest point since early June, before he began mounting his campaign to potentially become an All-Star.
“He felt that way at least every at-bat tonight,” manager Bob Melvin said after Saturday’s 6-4 loss. “We’ll see where we are with him tomorrow.”
On the basics
When they hit the road, the Giants understood that their improvements in controlling their opponents’ running game would be put to the test.
The Reds lead the major leagues with 156 stolen bases, and just behind them are the Washington Nationals, the Giants’ next opponent, with 154.
“You know you’re going to give them stolen bases,” Melvin said before Friday’s game. “That’s just part of their nature. Every team has their strengths and weaknesses. That’s definitely one of their strengths.”
Keeping opponents in check on the bases hasn’t been a strong suit of Melvin’s team for much of this season, despite having catcher Patrick Bailey, who has some of the league’s quickest pop times and one of its most powerful throwing arms.
Through the first three months of the season, the Giants had thrown out just 18 of 107 attempted base stealers, a 16.8 percent success rate, but since the start of July, they’ve thrown out more than they’ve thrown out, 13 of 20, including MLB’s leading base stealer Elly De La Cruz (55 of 66 attempts), with the help of a first-inning pitchout Saturday night.
“I think early on we weren’t as good at holding runners,” said Melvin, a former catcher. “Now (Bailey) is trying to be too fast and so there were some throws that weren’t as accurate as what you’re seeing right now.”
“As a catcher, you know when the ball is coming at you whether or not you have a chance to put someone out. When you feel like you’re in a tough spot, you try to rush and do some things, maybe mechanically, that aren’t going to serve you well. So we’ve been a lot better in our moments at the plate and so he hasn’t had to be as fast and his mechanics are better. When he throws the ball to the bag, he’s going to put some guys out.”
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