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Christian Encarnacion-Strand tormented minor-league pitching at the Single-A and Double-A levels from 2021 to 2022. The 23-year-old has maintained this status at Triple-A Louisville in 2023, slashing a hearty .326/.399/.634 with 17 home runs and 52 RBI over 227 at-bats.
Encarnacion-Strand has gradually dipped, to be fair, in each month of play with descending triple-slash lines from April to June. That perhaps stands as the only bugaboo preventing him from a call-up.
Regardless, Encarnacion-Strand remains one of fantasy’s strongest redraft bench stashes. Better yet, let’s determine the level of urgency fantasy managers should convey in making sure he isn’t floating around on waivers depending on league size.
Where Might Christian Encarnacion-Strand Fit On the Major-League Roster?
CES simply continues to pour it on in the minors as he and fantasy managers alike await his inevitable elevation. The hard-hitting third/first baseman has little left to prove at this point in terms of at least getting a chance in the big leagues.
Leading the NL Central at 43-38 through the season's midway point, Cincinnati has written one of baseball’s most infectious underdog stories during June. With 29 come-from-behind victories (!) and an exciting crop of young talent especially in hitting, the Reds have become virtually impossible to root against having not won a playoff series since 1995.
CES is primarily a corner infielder but has gotten his feet wet as a corner outfielder in the minors very sparingly this year as Cincinnati searches for methods to integrate his bat into their lineup. Spencer Steer’s breakout has enabled him to take over as the club’s primary first baseman and Joey Votto’s recent return further clouds CES’s pathway to cold-corner reps.
2023's top prospect Elly De La Cruz has taken the third-base reins a bit with a sensational start. Fellow top prospect Matt McLain comfortably occupies shortstop with a wonderful beginning of his own, so De La Cruz is only moving there about half of the time. Even so, CES's questionable hot-corner glove this season (.905 third-base fielding percentage) is an aspect the Reds may want to hide.
Will Christian Encarnacion-Strand Finally Be Promoted In July?
As of June's end, the only true opening for CES’s bat seems to be at designated hitter with Jake Fraley also outperforming expectations in the corners. Since CES has experienced such limited outfield playing time, that’s probably wishful thinking anyway. The right-handed slugger could certainly serve as a complement to the righty-mashing Votto at DH. Even so, CES’s opportunity would figure to be restricted on the wrong side of platoon duties while opposing southpaws on those occasions.
With a promotion ETA still reasonable in July, CES remains arguably fantasy’s top redraft stash on upside alone and is perhaps neck and neck with Grayson Rodriguez in this respect in shallow formats. There’s no beating around the bush here; CES should be rostered across fantasy leagues of all shapes and sizes. It's fair to expect a call-up no later than the July 31 trade deadline, whether that be for Cincy or another club if they opt to flip the youngster for pitching help with their influx of bats. Stay patient, gamers.
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