Edwin Encarnacion had a pretty strange 2011 season. Entering spring training he was to be DH and back up at first base. Then, at the very end of spring training, they decided to move Edwin to third base. Almost predictably, that didn't turn out well. If there was ever a player that needed a full spring to get read to play third base it is Edwin.
His season started poorly with both the glove and the bat. When it did, Farrell moved him off third and we were treated to the baseball stylings of Jayson Nix. That started well but, again predictably, didn't continue to go well for long.
It took Edwin until early June to get his OBP above .300. But then he hit great in June, July and August, having OPS of .846, .909 and .961 those months. Anyway, we took a closer look at his 2011 back here.
| Year | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 26 | TOR | 42 | 173 | 154 | 25 | 37 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 29 | .240 | .306 | .442 | .748 | 94 |
| 2010 | 27 | TOR | 96 | 367 | 332 | 47 | 81 | 16 | 0 | 21 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 60 | .244 | .305 | .482 | .787 | 109 |
| 2011 | 28 | TOR | 134 | 530 | 481 | 70 | 131 | 36 | 0 | 17 | 55 | 8 | 2 | 43 | 77 | .272 | .334 | .453 | .787 | 110 |
| TOR (3 yrs) | 272 | 1070 | 967 | 142 | 249 | 57 | 1 | 46 | 129 | 10 | 2 | 85 | 166 | .257 | .320 | .461 | .781 | 107 | ||
The question for today is what do you think he'll do with the bat in 2012. Bill James has him hitting .266/.341/.462, with 16 home runs and 53 RBI in 115 games. I'd like to think that if he hits that well, Farrell will use him more than that. The thing about Edwin is it does take him a bunch of at bats to get his timing down.
Me? I'm hoping they give him the DH job, maybe have him platoon at first base, the less Adam Lind plays against LHP, the better, I think. I really can't see him playing outfield. I'll guess that he'll play 140 games, hit 25 homers, bat .275/.330/.475. Give us your guess.