Giants Slugger Will Be 'Down a While' With Latest Injury That Has Him on IL

It sounds like the San Francisco Giants will be without one of their sluggers for a while.

Mar 15, 2025; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Jerar Encarnacion (59) reacts after hitting a double against the Seattle Mariners in the second inning at Scottsdale Stadium | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Amid all the excitement surrounding the San Francisco Giants regarding their shocking blockbuster to acquire Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox and the activation of Justin Verlander and Patrick Bailey from the injured list, there was some disappointing news.

The Giants placed Jerar Encarnacion on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain on June 17.

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This happened during an off day when he was taking batting practice.

Now, it seems like this injury is going to keep the slugger on the shelf for a while after Bob Melvin updated reporters, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, about what Encarnacion is dealing with.

Jerar Encarnacion strained his oblique taking extra BP on the off day. Bob Melvin said it’s a pretty good strain, and he’ll be down a while. He’s had a lot of bad luck going back to the spring.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 18, 2025

After suffering a left hand fracture during the spring that caused him to miss the first part of the season, he was activated off the 60-day IL on June 2, a stretch of health that only lasted 15 days.

Encarnacion was a nice boost to San Francisco's lineup in 2024 when they called him up in early-August, slashing .248/.277/.425 in 35 games where he hit five homers and drove in 19 runs for an OPS+ that was one point under the league average of 100.

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That stretch created some excitement about what he could do this season, but he has never been able to get things going because of these injuries.

How long he'll be out isn't quite clear, however, the timeline doesn't sound great based on the comments that Melvin gave.

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What the Giants do whenever Encarnacion is healthy enough to return will be another thing to monitor since Devers will likely slot into the designated hitter role more often than not, potentially leaving Encarnacion without a roster spot.

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