Jerar Encarnacion arrived in San Francisco with a simple selling point: power. The Giants were willing to bet on it, too, even with a crowded outfield picture and other names pushing for the same roster space.
His path to the club had already been shaped by major-league experience and a lack of minor-league options, which helped him edge out Luis Matos for a spot in March. It was Encarnacion’s fourth MLB stint, though he had never topped 35 games in a season.
The Giants gave him one more look after injuries had limited him to just 19 games in 2025. In spring training, he did enough to keep the door open, batting .294 with a .759 OPS over 22 games. That earned him a place on the Opening Day roster as a backup corner outfielder and a right-handed bat off the bench.
What followed was the briefest big-league stay of his career.
Tony Vitello’s bench early on was not exactly a showcase for reserves, as the new manager leaned on his everyday veterans. But when Casey Schmitt was scratched, Encarnacion got a chance to start at first base and as the designated hitter.
For a short stretch in early April, he looked like a useful piece in a different way than expected. He didn’t launch any balls into the seats, but he did put the bat on the ball, hitting safely in five straight games.
His first hit of the year came against the New York Mets on April 3, a double that ended up as his only extra-base hit of the season. He went 5-for-16 over his first six games, and at that moment it looked like he might carve out some value with contact rather than raw pop.
The good feeling didn’t last. After that opening run, his opportunities dried up fast.
Encarnacion played in just 11 more games and picked up only 19 more plate appearances between April 8 and May 4, which turned out to be his last day in a Giants uniform. Over that span, he managed one hit, struck out five times and walked once.
By the time San Francisco designated him for assignment on May 4, the message was plain enough. A player brought in to bring power off the bench had gone homerless, finished with a .406 OPS in 35 plate appearances, struck out eight times and walked once. The sample was tiny, but the Giants were in need of offense and Encarnacion wasn’t giving them any.
At that point, the club promoted Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez, who would eventually give the lineup the jolt it needed. Encarnacion was left to sort out his next move. He could have returned to Sacramento and played for the River Cats after clearing waivers, but he chose free agency instead.
That decision opened the door to a new chapter abroad. With no major-league team showing interest, Encarnacion signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Nippon Professional Baseball on June 12 for the rest of 2026. The change of scenery worked.
The 29-year-old appeared in 64 games for Yokohama and produced the kind of line the Giants had hoped for all along. He hit .293 in 252 plate appearances, added 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 39 RBIs, and posted an .815 OPS.
Even that turnaround didn’t end on a clean note. Encarnacion suffered a right leg injury in the postseason and was left off the roster for the Japan Series, NPB’s equivalent of the World Series.
He has an option for next year and is fully expected to remain with the BayStars in 2027, according to Edwin Hernandez Jr. For the Giants, though, Encarnacion’s stint will be remembered for what it promised and what it never quite delivered.
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Hernndez is the kind of low-cost gamble that can make sense for a Giants staff trying to find value wherever it can. His past performance metrics, injury history and pitch mix all come with obvious caveats, but the appeal is clear enough, especially when compared with Anthony Molina as a possible template for how San Francisco might think about slotting him into the pitching picture. The open question is whether the Giants think the upside is worth the risk, and whether Hernndez ends up being the sort of under-the-radar addition that can stick long enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Willy Adames Must Fix This One Problem For Giants In 2027
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The numbers behind that change are the kind the Giants will study closely as they map out 2027. Adames chased more pitches outside the strike zone and offered at fewer strikes inside it last season, a combination that can chip away at a hitters overall value even when the power production holds steady. For a lineup that needs more reliable traffic on the bases, the next step is clear enough: improving his plate discipline has to be part of the offensive conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Giants Still Bet Big On Willy Adames
Willy Adames arrived in San Francisco as one of the biggest additions of the Giants offseason, and so far the results on the field have been uneven. He has battled at the plate and had his share of defensive struggles since signing his seven-year, $182 million deal, which has made the early returns on the investment a talking point around the team.
But the Giants were not buying only production when they made that commitment. Adames has built a reputation for being a positive presence in the clubhouse, the kind of teammate who stays connected to former players and pays attention to the people around him, as shown by his outreach to Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash about Freddy Peralta. For a club that clearly believed in the person as much as the player, that part of the bet still matters even as the on-field questions linger. [Read more 🡒]