Brothers’ bond drove Encarnacion to succeed: ‘Our dream was fulfilled’
The heartfelt post, made two days after his MLB debut, is pinned to the top of Jerar Encarnacion’s Instagram page.
“Hermano tu sueño y nuestro sueño se cumplió. Te amo pa’ siempre” the post reads in part in Spanish (“Brother your dream and our dream was fulfilled. I love you forever.”)
Anderson Encarnacion, Jerar’s older brother who died in a motorcycle accident at age 27 four years ago, was one of Jerar’s most avid supporters in his baseball career. Anderson was seven years older but the two had an unbreakable bond. They played together on the fields in the Dominican Republic. Both were outfielders.
And Anderson knew
Jerar had the talent to be successful.
“We were pretty close,” Jerar said. “I still have my dad, but for me, he was like another father figure where we were able to sit down and talk about anything, about life and then he could always give me advice about how to be better.”
That made Jerar’s MLB debut with the Miami Marlins on June 19 so bittersweet. He had finally made it to the big leagues, nearly seven years after signing for $78,000. He also had a debut to remember, hitting a go-ahead grand slam at Citi Field as the Marlins beat the Mets.
The fact that Anderson wasn’t there to see it in person was tough, but Jerar still feels his brother’s support. And that will remain the same as he continues his career.
“He always told me I was going to make it to the major-league level,” Jerar said. “That was something that helped me out.”
There’s a lot to like about Encarnacion’s profile. The 24-year-old, ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in the Marlins’ system according to MLB Pipeline, has the size at 6-4 and 250 pounds. He has power in his simple swing and has a knack for hitting the ball the opposite way. He has a strong arm that profiles well in right field and he’s athletic and has good speed for his size.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly compared Encarnacion to Vlad Guerrero Sr.
“[Guerrero] ran good, threw good, played the outfield well,” Mattingly said. “That’s what you see out of Jerar is that big body but its surprisingly athletic movements.”
Shortstop Miguel Rojas sees resemblance to former Marlin and current New York Yankee Giancarlo Stanton.
“Imagine if he can actually follow those steps,” Rojas said. “It would be huge.”
It would be.
To be fair, Encarnacion isn’t there just yet. He entered Saturday hitting just .203 with a .582 onbase-plus-slugging percentage over an 18-game and 62-plate appearance sample size. He has shown the power, with five of his 12 hits going for extra bases (three doubles and two home runs). He has shown a knack for driving in runners with 12 RBI.
He has safely reached base or driven in a run in 12 of his 17 games with a plate appearance, including each of his past seven.
“Try to hit the ball in the sweet spot. That’s my motto. I just want to hit the ball hard. Line drives. It doesn’t matter where it goes. Just get results.”
But there are clear areas where he needs to improve — most notably his 43.1percent swing-and-miss rate.
“Just knowing what area he likes, knowing his hot zone, if he can get that and keep to that, I think the swing and miss will go down a little bit,” Marlins hitting coach Marcus Thames said, “but with Jerar, for me, he’s evenkeel. He never gets too high or too low. There’s a lot to like about him. Him being able to drop the ball to right-center is a plus for me, but overall I just think these guys need some more at-bats. We’re going to keep tinkering with some stuff here and there, but overall, let the athlete be an athlete.”
Growing up, Encarnacion said he modeled his approach at the plate after Albert Pujols, the 22-year MLB veteran who is nearing the end of his historic baseball career.
“He’s the guy that we hear about the most in the Dominican Republic,” Encarnacion said.
Encarnacion was 2 years old when Pujols made his MLB debut. He still sometimes finds it tough to fathom that he’s playing in the big leagues at the same time as Pujols.
“It means a lot,” Encarnacion said. “I had no knowledge of life or anything when he started playing the game and he’s still playing the game now. He’s a hero and just being able to be in the same league is amazing.”
It took Encarnacion a little longer than he had hoped to get there.
He struggled to tap into his power during his first three seasons in the Marlins organization, hitting just 10 home runs through his first 115 games split between the Dominican Summer League (14 games in 2016), rookie-level Gulf Coast League (42 in 2017), short-season Class A (43 in 2018) and full season Single A (16 in 2018).
His brother’s death prior the 2018 season served as a motivational factor. He was now playing to succeed not just for himself, but for the both of them.
“I hired a physical strength coach in the DR for the offseason,” he said. “We worked toward 2019. All the effort paid off.”
That 2019 season? Encarnacion swatted 16 home runs and led all Marlins minor-leaguers with 71 RBI over 135 games split between Single A and High A. He capped that season with an impressive showing at the Arizona Fall League, during which he hit the game-winning grand slam in the league’s championship game.
A canceled 2020 minorleague season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an injury-filled 2021 season delayed his development before returning to form this year.
“His swing is pretty clean,” Mattingly said. “It’s pretty direct. Not a lot of experience but definitely has power the other way . ... Jerar is a guy that has a lot of potential from the standpoint of physically what he can do.”
With each passing day in the big leagues, Encarnacion is understanding that potential and becoming cognizant of what needs to be done to tap into his strengths. His confidence is increasing, too.
Now, it’s about turning that confidence into results.
“The coaches have given me the opportunity and I feel the trust they’ve given me,” Encarnacion said. “I feel confident because of that. Just want to keep working and playing the game.”
Jordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126