Christian Encarnacion-Strand would like a do-over on 2024. He struggled at the plate to begin the year and then suffered an injury in May before finding out that at some point before that injury that he had actually suffered another injury to his wrist/hand area that had been undiagnosed. In the end, he would play his final game of the regular season on May 7th before deciding to undergo surgery.
After having surgery and going through the rehab process, Christian Encarnacion-Strand was sent to play in the Arizona Fall League. Normally that’s a league for minor league prospects, but this year multiple teams used it as an avenue for rehab/recovering from injury types of players.
Things had gotten out to a nice start for Encarnacion-Strand. He picked up three straight 2-hit games, walked twice in that span, had two doubles, and he drove in seven runs. In his 4th game he went 1-2 and walked twice. He was hitting .500 at that point with four walks. But then he suffered a set back of sorts and didn’t play for three weeks.
On Wednesday he returned to the field, serving as the designated hitter for Glendale. Encarnacion-Strand would finish the day 0-4 with two strikeouts. He would ground out the first time he came to the plate. Later in the game he hit a 382-foot fly ball at 102 MPH off of the bat, but he happened to hit it to center and that wasn’t enough to get past the center fielder.
Matt McLain was also in the lineup on the day and after playing in center field the previous game, he was back on the dirt and at second base. He struggled at the plate on the day, going 0-4 with four strikeouts. Shortstop prospect Edwin Arroyo went 1-4 with a double.
When it comes to Reds on the day, though, it was pitching prospect Jose Acuna who had the best day. He got the start and allowed a run in 3.0 innings while giving up two hits, walking two, and he struck out six batters. He would take the loss on the day, but pitched well as he kept his ERA under 3.00 (it’s 2.77 through 13 innings.
Reds lose 20 minor leaguers
Free agency in the minor leagues started up this week and 20 minor leaguers from the Reds organization elected free agency. Among the group are former big leaguers Bubba Thompson, Edwin Rios, Erik Gonzalez, Hernan Perez, Levi Jordan, Mark Mathias, P.J. Higgins, Tucker Barnhart, Justus Sheffield, Connor Overton, Patrick Weigel, and Alex Blandino.
Blandino, who spent his big league time as a utility player, was attempting to make a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher. He pitched in just seven games this season between complex level baseball and Single-A Daytona.
You can see the full list of minor leaguers who became free agents over at RedsMinorLeagues.com.
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