Edwin Encarnacion lately...

<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;">I thought I would write about how well </span><strong style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/encared01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/encared01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Edwin Encarnacion</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;">'s bat has kicked in lately with his 1.111 OPS and 14 RBIs in his last twelve games and what that has meant to the Blue Jays. But a picture really is worth a thousand words:</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzOR3h-1UsC_hcRAk-Rq20oRBjeE6L-zDieFYwohHWZ6m7r_0xbl-t2ey7vLFsPn9GL8z1qHhRXx_MX4XLNXMQyymI84giOf-P2ehsmurg-_ZXowGNxhZECzVaqw3W8CmMLbTbihY8XE/s1600/Encarnacion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzOR3h-1UsC_hcRAk-Rq20oRBjeE6L-zDieFYwohHWZ6m7r_0xbl-t2ey7vLFsPn9GL8z1qHhRXx_MX4XLNXMQyymI84giOf-P2ehsmurg-_ZXowGNxhZECzVaqw3W8CmMLbTbihY8XE/s1600/Encarnacion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;"><br /></span></span>

Edwin Encarnacion lately...

I thought I would write about how well  Edwin Encarnacion 's bat has kicked in lately with his 1.111 OPS and 14 RBIs in his last twelve ...

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Edwin Encarnacion and his arm bar home run trot

<div style="text-align: justify;">After hitting 42 homers in 2012 and finishing April with nine more, it is pretty apparent that <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/encared01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Edwin Encarnacion</a></strong> has arrived as an elite power hitter in Major League Baseball. And Mr. Encarnacion does not hit little cheap shots either. He crushes baseballs. He hit two in last night's game that were just crushed. But I noticed something unique in his home run trot. While he was circling the bases, he puts his right arm in a stationary position. I am not sure how how Major League pitchers feel about his trot, but they sure look fun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is what I am talking about. <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_30_bosmlb_tormlb_1&mode=video" target="_blank">Here is one</a> of the homers. Watch him as he rounds second and heads to third. Gosh, that ball was crushed!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is the <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_30_bosmlb_tormlb_1&mode=video" target="_blank">other one</a> and he does it again on the second homer. I could not embed these so you have the link instead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you ever seen anyone do that before? I have not. I am sure that someone has asked Edwin about the move, but until I find it, all I can do is speculate about what he is doing. Here are my guesses:</div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">He is taking his Blue Jays' teammates on a pony ride.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He is strolling with his lady friend around the bases.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Hitting homers is like leaning at the bar of his favorite Toronto pub.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He is making sure his armpits are aired out before he gets greeted by his teammates.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He is walking the dog and the pitcher was his dog.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Hitting home runs is like square dancing.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">The game is so easy for him that his arm is resting up on his easy chair.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He needs the aerodynamics to keep making left turns.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He is warding off bad mojo from glaring outfielders.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">He is waiting for a hawk to land on his arm.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Hitting homers is like being a passenger in a car with the window down.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">Do you have any more ideas? Or maybe you have read an article about it. Whatever Encarnacion is doing, it is kind of cool and different. One thing is also sure: Edwin Encarnacion has become one hitter I would gladly pay to see hit again and again.<br /><br />Update** My good friend, Navin, who knows all things Toronto sports says (in the comment section) the move is called, "The Edwing." I could not find a Google reference, but if Navin says it, it is gold to me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>

Edwin Encarnacion and his arm bar home run trot

After hitting 42 homers in 2012 and finishing April with nine more, it is pretty apparent that Edwin Encarnacion has arrived as an elite p...

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Six things you probably didn't know about Edwin Encarnación

<div style="text-align: justify;">Everybody is aware that the Toronto Blue Jays' <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/encared01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Edwin Encarnacion</a></strong> went all Bautista on us in 2012 as he suddenly became a premier slugger in baseball. Everyone is aware that he hit 42 homers and slugged .557 en route to a .941 OPS. Everybody also wonders if he can repeat those numbers after coming from nowhere to have that kind of season. But there are things that you probably do not know about Encarnacion which may just hint that he is not a fluke.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Edwin Encarnación hardly ever hits the ball on the ground. Of all qualifying batters in 2012, only <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reddijo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Josh Reddick</a></strong> of the A's had a lower ground ball to fly ball ratio and lower ground ball percentage. Only 33% of Encarnación's batted balls went on the ground for a ground ball to fly ball ratio of 0.67. And since 18.6% of those fly balls went over the fence, that is a good recipe for hitting homers. This is not a fluke as his career ratio is 0.80 and has been under 0.70 in two of his last three seasons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. He also has very good plate discipline for a bopper. He only swung at pitches outside the strike zone 24.5% of the time. That is the 25th lowest in baseball. And only 26 other baseball players (qualified for batting title) swung at less of a percentage of pitches than Encarnación who only swung at 41.6 percent of the pitches he saw in 2012. This shows that he has become adept at waiting for something he likes before pulling the trigger. The plate discipline is not a fluke as it was only one percentage point below his career average. The swing percentage was a marked improvement and could be one of the markers of his improved season. His career swing percentage is 46%.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. For a big guy who hits for power, he does not swing and miss very many pitches. Only 41 qualified batters swung and missed less than Edwin Encarnación's 7.1 swing and miss rate. In other words, he is not just up there hacking. His strikeout percentage was only 14.6%</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. You can't pitch him fast or slow. Encarnación had the fourth highest pitch value against the fastball in 2012. His prowess versus the fastball was 30 wFB. He was also tied for fourth best against the change up. And he was seventh best against the curve. So what DO you throw this guy? Good luck with that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. He is a better than average base runner. Not only is it somewhat rare for a slugger to be good on the bases, but he is surprisingly effective at stealing. He doesn't do it a lot, but in 26 attempts over the past two seasons, he has been successful 21 times good for an 80.8% success rate. And that rate exactly matches his career success rate when attempting to steal a base.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6. His 2012 season was as good as it was despite a .266 BABIP. The low BABIP makes some sense since he hits so many fly balls. But still. He hit .286 despite a .266 BABIP. Can you imagine if a few more things dropped in for him? His career BABIP is .280, so he was a bit unlucky in 2012.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There you have it--six things you probably did not know about Edwin Encarnación. Those six things--especially the first five--show at least to this observer that like Bautista before him, Encarnación's season was not a fluke and that he can repeat what he showed us in 2012. </div>

Six things you probably didn't know about Edwin Encarnación

Everybody is aware that the Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion went all Bautista on us in 2012 as he suddenly became a premier slugg...

+ Read more »