Orioles Should Ride Encarnacion-Strand's Hot Streak For Now But His Future Remains Suspect

It's no surprise Orioles baseball czar Mike Elias fell for this journeyman, who has the same strengths and weaknesses that result in such middling rosters and seasons

Aug 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Orioles third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand (32) reacts after hitting a go ahead one run double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A few weeks back, the Orioles brass may have been pondering whether Christian Encarnacion-Strand should be headed back to Norfolk.

Blaze Alexander, who was shockingly a top 10 hitter in baseball from April 24 until he was hit by a pitch right before the All-Star break, was nearing a return, third baseman Coby Mayo was going on a tear and the natural holes on CES’s game – iffy in the field with range and mobility, swing-and-miss, inconsistent bat – were creeping back up.

The very things that made the former top 100 prospect bounce to two prior organizations and that kept him in AAA this season as long as he was while Baltimore’s lineup was among the dregs in baseball much of the season. But over the last two weeks Encarnacion-Strand has flipped the script entirely, he is the only Oriole playing a Robin to Pete Alonso’s unreal Batman act lately (the last 17 games are bonkers), and, while he turs 27 in December that’s still younger than, say, Heston Kjerstad.

While it’s hard to project where the veteran would fit in next season, if the Orioles do trade Gunnar Henderson as many expect they will, and move Jackson Holliday to centerfield and acquire a glove-first shortstop, it’s possible he could toggle between third and first and DH in 2027 (Alexander, however, might be at third for the most part but he can play corner outfield as well). And if the O’s keep Henderson til the trade deadline before flipping him, well, he should be playing third base and that would truly complicate the equation for Encarnacion-Strand.

Anyway, there is time to sort things out, but if CES can stay on anything close to the plateau he is on his last 13 games, the Orioles are going to end up riding that bat as long as they can (might not be that much longer, but whatever).

“He’s been huge,” manager Craig Albernaz said of the third baseman after Wednesday’s game. “Obviously, the way he’s been swinging the bat has been a huge plus for us, especially with Blaze going down.”

This Is A Heater … With Limitations

Encarnacion-Strand has 15 RBIs in his last 13 games, and the Orioles are 7-6 in those games because of starting pitching and this guy and Alonso (back at DH dealing with a calf issue) swinging the lumber. CES has a .294/.302/.588 slash in that span, which underlines why he spent so much time in the minors.

We are talking 16 strikeouts to one walk during this tear.

He has big holes in his swing and it’s power-over-everything, and of course it is, because baseball failure Mike Elias collects these guys in droves and pretends he can fix them. Another guy who can kill a fastball but struggles with offspeed. We’ve documented this at length. It’s tantalizing enough, but when the lack of plus defense is factored in, you see a tweener. Is this what Mayo himself will look like at age 27? Just a slightly-older version of what he is now?

Hence why this franchise has sucked for over two years.

You can’t be too declarative about CES at this point; I suspect he ends up being very similar to another RH former top prospect, Jeremiah Jackson, as a AAAA guy who is great organizational depth but also ends up eating up more opportunities in MLB at the expense of much younger players with considerably more upside. It’s caught in the middle, like everything Elias does putting rosters and teams together; even like his half-assed approach to the trade deadline (as longtime MLB exec Jim Duquette scorched on “The Daily Flock Show” Thursday).

But, if nothing else, you ride the hot streaks when they come, and CES mashed everything he saw Wednesday night. The Orioles have scored 21 runs in two games in St. Louis and the Cardinals pen is depleted and they are trying to patch together a bullpen game Thursday afternoon, so there is a great opportunity for a sweep as Baltimore heads to Sacramento and Denver to complete this critical road trip.

I’d say enjoy it while it lasts, and this is more a stopgap than someone you can bank anything on for anything 2027.

Here’s how the Orioles lineup looks for the finale:

Jackson Holliday, 2B

Alonso, DH

Gunnar Henderson, SS

Samuel Basallo, C

Encarnacion-Strand, 3B

Dylan Beavers, LF

Mayo, 1B

Colton Cowser, CF

Leody Taveras, RF

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