Christian Encarnacion-Strand

25-Year-Old First Baseman1B

Cincinnati Reds

2025 Stats

AVG

.500

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Encarnacion-Strand struggled to fill Joey Votto's shoes at first base in Cincinnati, slashing just .190/.220/.293 in 29 games before a fractured right wrist ended his season. When he first went down, Encarnacion-Strand was expected back in 4-to-6 weeks, but after receiving a second opinion, he opted for surgery. The Reds sent him to the Arizona Fall League for make-up at-bats, and those live reps should have given him some peace of mind and set him up for a relatively normal offseason heading into 2025. Part of the Reds' return for Tyler Mahle, Encarnacion-Strand still seems to be very much part of the organization's plans, though he won't be assured anything entering spring training. His power is off the charts, but he will likely struggle to find consistency until he refines his plate skills (28.5 K%, 3.3 BB% last season). Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

Overall Rank

Dynasty

From Preseason

#227

ADP

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 229

DOB 12/1/1999

Born Walnut Creek, CA

College Oklahoma State

Drafted 4th Rd 2021 MIN

Pops two-run homer Saturday

1BCincinnati Reds

March 9, 2025

Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks.

ANALYSIS
Encarnacion-Strand took advantage of a Jordan Montgomery fastball that stayed up in the zone and hammered his third home run of the spring. Coming back from a wrist injury that limited him to 29 games in 2024, Encarnacion-Strand appears healthy in camp. He's mainly batted in the lower half of the order this spring, but he could provide a middle-of-the-order presence if he continues to mash. Capable of playing both corner-infield spots, Encarnacion-Strand has started mostly at first base and is looking like the favorite to win the job. His cause is aided by the shoulder injury to Spencer Steer, who may open the regular season on the injured list.

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Batting Stats

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2025

2024

2023

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2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2023

+32%

OPS vs RHP

2025

-100%

OPS vs RHP

2024

+39%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+23%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.575	98	7	1	7	0	.222	.286	.289
Since 2023vs Right	.761	270	35	14	46	2	.254	.296	.464
2025vs Left	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2025vs Right	1.250	4	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.750
2024vs Left	.405	38	2	0	2	0	.167	.211	.194
2024vs Right	.561	85	11	2	14	0	.200	.224	.338
2023vs Left	.685	60	5	1	5	0	.259	.333	.352
2023vs Right	.844	181	24	12	32	2	.274	.326	.518
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2023

+8%

OPS on Road

2025

-100%

OPS at Home

2024

+79%

OPS on Road

2023

+15%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023Home	.689	206	24	9	26	1	.242	.282	.407
Since 2023Away	.741	162	18	6	27	1	.250	.309	.432
2025Home	1.250	4	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.750
2025Away	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024Home	.401	80	8	1	6	0	.147	.188	.213
2024Away	.718	43	5	1	10	0	.268	.279	.439
2023Home	.858	122	16	8	20	1	.296	.336	.522
2023Away	.749	119	13	5	17	1	.243	.319	.430
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Christian Encarnacion-Strand compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.00

BB Rate

0.0%

K Rate

0.0%

BABIP

.500

ISO

.250

AVG

.500

OBP

.500

SLG

.750

OPS

1.250

wOBA

.540

Exit Velocity

0.0 mph

Hard Hit Rate

0.0%

Barrels/PA

0.0%

Expected BA

.000

Expected SLG

.000

Sprint Speed

0.0 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

75.0%

Line Drive %

25.0%

Fly Ball %

0.0%

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Christian Encarnacion-Strand Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Christian Encarnacion-Strand See More

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5 days ago

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15 days ago

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MLB FAAB Factor: Cacti and Grapefruits

16 days ago

Strong spring performances can make a player worthy of a pickup before the season even begins, especially if that performance wins a player a starting role like it appears to have done for the Cubs' Matt Shaw.

Spring Training Job Battles: NL Central

20 days ago

The National League Central features several closer spots up for grabs and multiple rookies hoping to break camp with starting spots, including the Cubs' Matt Shaw.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

Encarnacion-Strand kicked the door down with a .331/.405/.637 line and 20 homers in 67 games with Triple-A Louisville to earn a promotion to Cincinnati just after the All-Star break. At 23 years old, he continued to hit for impressive power at the highest level, totaling 20 extra-base hits in his first 241 MLB plate appearances. He struck out at a 28.6% clip but still managed to bat .270 on the strength of a 10.5% barrel rate. In declining Joey Votto's option in November, the Reds said they could not commit to the playing time Votto deserves, an acknowledgment of the need to get Encarnacion-Strand and others more at-bats in 2024. Acquired from Minnesota in 2022 as part of the Tyler Mahle deal, Encarnacion-Strand will likely split time between first base and designated hitter after the Reds signed Jeimer Candelario to a multi-year deal.

Part of Cincinnati's return for Tyler Mahle from Minnesota, Encarnacion-Strand is a classic better-in-fantasy-than-reality prospect, and a future home in Great American Ball Park is an added bonus. There is also a much clearer path for Encarnacion-Strand, who currently spends most of his time at third base but may have to move to first base/designated hitter in the near future. Last season, he proved to be one of the preeminent sluggers in the minors, slashing .304/.368/.587 with an excellent 33.8 Hard% and 32 home runs in 122 games split almost evenly between High-A and Double-A. Prior to 2022, all we had to go on was that Encarnacion-Strand (a fourth-round pick in 2021) obliterated Single-A (175 wRC+) while being old for the level. However, he now has a pretty compelling track record of offensive dominance. His approach leaves something to be desired, as Encarnacion-Strand has never logged a walk rate over 9.1% in pro ball, which is unusual for a player his age (just turned 23) with 70-grade game power. It's possible his hit tool just doesn't translate at the highest level, but he should get a fair chance, given Cincinnati's lack of talent. We could see him in the majors in the second half.

More Fantasy News

Blasts second spring homer

1BCincinnati Reds

March 2, 2025

Encarnacion-Strand went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI in Saturday's spring game against the Padres.

ANALYSIS
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Launches homer Wednesday

1BCincinnati Reds

February 26, 2025

Encarnacion-Strand started at first base and went 1-for-3 with a home run in Wednesday's spring game against the Angels.

ANALYSIS
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Will see action at third

1BCincinnati Reds

February 11, 2025

Reds manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that he'd like to see Encarnacion-Strand play third base during spring training, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

ANALYSIS
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Activated from 60-day IL

1BCincinnati Reds

October 28, 2024

The Reds activated Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) from the 60-day injured list Monday.

ANALYSIS
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Will play in AFL games

1BCincinnati Reds

Wrist

September 20, 2024

Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) will play in the Arizona Fall League, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors

Impressing during camp

1BCincinnati Reds

March 3, 2023

Encarnacion-Strand is impressing early on in camp, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

ANALYSIS
It's a sample of just eight at-bats, but Encarnacion-Strand is hitting .625 in the Cactus League and is coming off a season in which he homered 32 times while registering a .955 OPS between the High-A and Double-A levels. Acquired by the Reds from the Twins in last year's deal for Tyler Mahle, Encarnacion-Strand is playing first base more often this spring, and the 23-year-old is also capable of handling third. He'll likely open the year in the minors, but he could be one of the first players called up by Cincinnati over the summer.

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