ANAHEIM, Calif. – Sometimes the desire to put up big numbers in a walk year can cause players to press on the field, ultimately hampering their performance. Edwin Encarnacion has done the exact opposite this season, pushing aside the distraction of his looming free agency to deliver time and again for the Toronto Blue Jays.
“That’s why I didn’t want to negotiate during the season,” the all-star slugger said after hitting his 40th homer in a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. “I just wanted to concentrate to help the team and make this team win and enjoy the season.”
In reaching the plateau, Encarnacion became just the third player in Blue Jays history with multiple 40-homer seasons, joining Jose Bautista and Carlos Delgado. His career high of 42 was set in 2012, while his 118 RBIs are already a personal best.
“It’s a nice number to reach,” Encarnacion said through translator Josue Peley. “I’m really happy to be a part of that group and knowing that those two guys are big horses.”
The nice numbers Encarnacion has reached this season mean he’ll get some very nice numbers thrown his way in free agency this fall.
Estimates of his value on the open market from various industry sources range from $20-$30 million per season over four, perhaps even five years. A nine figure contract is seen by some as likely and while that may be a staggering sum, consider that since 2012, he’s slashed .272/.367/.547 with 191 home runs and 541 RBIs and the market for power this season will be extremely thin.
A slugger with strong plate discipline and limited swing and miss – he’s collected 380 walks while striking out 461 times over that span – while averaging 142 games with 38 homers and 108 RBIs is going to get paid in a major way.
“Eddie is Steady Eddie,” said manager John Gibbons. “He’s had a tremendous career here, late bloomer and really, really put it together. Tremendous individual, just shows up and plays, no complaints, he just goes out and does his job. Hey, tip our hats to him.”
Troy Tulowitzki cites a 10-pitch Encarnacion at-bat on Sept. 6 against Yankees closer Dellin Betances that ended with an RBI single as a moment this year that sticks out for him.
“He just battled – the guy’s as smart as any hitter I’ve been around,” said Tulowitzki. “Very even-keeled guy, I think that’s something people don’t realize, he’s the same guy every day whether he’s going good or whether he’s going bad. You can’t say that for everyone in this game, that’s tough to do. He’s just as solid as it comes.”
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BIAGINI BOUNCE BACK: The run expectancy for a bases loaded, none out situation is 2.282 runs, per Fangraphs, which underlines how good the work of Joe Biagini was in the sixth inning of Friday night’s 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
He came on after R.A. Dickey had allowed consecutive singles, walked Andrelton Simmons to load them up and proceeded to get three straight outs, keeping a 2-0 lead intact. The Angels, who should have expected at least a tie, came up with nothing.
“The key to that was Biagini coming in with two guys on, the next thing you know the bases are loaded and he works out of it,” said manager John Gibbons. “He’s fully capable of that, he can really be a dominating guy. We’ve got to make sure we keep him rested. We’ve had some stretches where we’ve used him a lot but when he’s strong, he’s awfully tough.”
Biagini was pitching with two days of rest. Over his previous eight outings he’d allowed seven runs over 9.1 innings, ending a run of 15 straight scoreless appearances. He’s appeared in 54 games now, pitching to a 2.61 ERA in 62 innings.
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WIN A SERIES: The Blue Jays have guaranteed themselves at least a series split in Anaheim, which ends a run of four straight series losses. Overall, they’d lost six of their past eight series, and hold a 24-19-5 record in series so far.
“We went a while without losing a series, it seemed like we were playing good baseball, and at the time I always thought, man, this can’t last the whole season and sure enough it didn’t,” said Troy Tulowitzki. “We ran into a little bit of a tough stretch. Honestly, I think it was a little bit better for us just because we got to deal with some adversity and see how you respond. So far this road trip, for two games, we’ve responded well.”
