MLB Player News
Top 300 Rankings
Videos
Columns
- American League East
- American League Central
- American League West
- National League East
- National League Central
- National League West
- American League East
  
  Baltimore Orioles
  
  Boston Red Sox
  
  New York Yankees
  
  Tampa Bay Rays
  
  Toronto Blue Jays
- American League Central
  
  Chicago White Sox
  
  Cleveland Guardians
  
  Detroit Tigers
  
  Kansas City Royals
  
  Minnesota Twins
- American League West
  
  Houston Astros
  
  Los Angeles Angels
  
  Athletics
  
  Seattle Mariners
  
  Texas Rangers
- National League East
  
  Atlanta Braves
  
  Miami Marlins
  
  New York Mets
  
  Philadelphia Phillies
  
  Washington Nationals
- National League Central
  
  Chicago Cubs
  
  Cincinnati Reds
  
  Milwaukee Brewers
  
  Pittsburgh Pirates
  
  St. Louis Cardinals
- National League West
  
  Arizona Diamondbacks
  
  Colorado Rockies
  
  Los Angeles Dodgers
  
  San Diego Padres
  
  San Francisco Giants
Stats

Christian Encarnacion-Strand draws first start for O’s

Encaracion-Strand_Christian (1).jpg

Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman #32

Player Stats

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is at third base and hitting eighth on Saturday against the Astros.

Encarnacion-Strand will get a chance to make an impact for the Orioles while Blaze Alexander is sidelined with a fractured left hand. The 26-year-old former prospect has always possessed impressive raw power, but he’s never been able to parlay it into an everyday role at the highest level during his time with the Reds. He’s in a great spot with Camden Yards being an ideal spot for right-handed pop. A wait-and-see approach is preferable here, but he’s the type of hitter that could get hot and make some noise in a hurry.

- George Bissell

Source: MLB.com

More Christian Encarnacion-Strand News

What Stowers' injury means for Marlins, fantasy

James Schiano assesses the ripple effects of Kyle Stowers' trip to the injured list, including how it impacts the Marlins' infield and fantasy rosters alike.

Up Next

What Stowers’ injury means for Marlins, fantasy

Astros’ Smith is ‘finally turning the corner’

Snell was ‘best version of himself’ in 10-K return

How to pivot with Kurtz unlikely to return in 2026

Sabathia: Skubal has to ‘be himself’ with Dodgers

Future destinations for neutral-site MLB games

Dodgers will ‘figure it out’ despite recent skid

Harris II has ‘figured out how he can be great’

Cubs on Brewers’ tail behind elite defensive play

Phillies’ Luzardo has blossomed into a ‘legit ace’

Related Player News

Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 3rd Baseman #32

Personalize your Rotoworld feed by favoriting players

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is starting at third base and batting sixth against the Twins on Wednesday.

Encarnacion-Strand has typically been sitting against right-handed pitchers, but he went 3-for-4 with a home run on Tuesday, so the Orioles are gonna give him a chance to stay hot. We should note that, in 40 plate appearances against righties this season, CES is hitting .211/.250/.342, so the results haven’t really been there. However, it’s just a 15 percent strikeout rate in those plate appearances, so maybe the hits will start to fall. Coby Mayo is on the bench on Wednesday.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 3rd Baseman #32

Christian Encarnacion hit a solo homer and stole a base while going 3-for-4 in a win over the Twins on Tuesday.

It’s the fourth stolen base of the season for Encarnacion-Strand, while the homer was also his fourth. It’s a small sample of 59 at-bats, but a .271/.328/.525 slash reminds that it wasn’t that long ago that he was considered one of the up-and-coming power bats in the sport. It’s understandable to have skepticism, but weirder things have happened than a 26-year-old with his track record breaking out.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 3rd Baseman #32

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is not in the Orioles’ starting lineup for Friday’s battle against the Rangers in Arlington.

Encarnacion-Strand has become a fixture in the middle of the O’s lineup since his arrival, but he’ll get a breather in this one against tough right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. Coby Mayo will cover the hot corner in his absence while Tyler O’Neill serves as the Orioles’ designated hitter and will bat cleanup on Friday.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman #32

Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, and four RBI in Friday’s loss to the Braves.

Encarnacion-Strand continues to leave a strong impression with the Orioles since getting called up. The righty smacked a two-RBI double off Grant Holmes in the bottom of the second inning to give the Birds an early 2-0 lead, and in the bottom of the 10th, he blasted a two-run homer to cut the Braves’ lead to 7-6. CES has now driven in eight runs in his first five games with the Birds while registering four extra-base hits.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman #32

Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI versus the Red Sox in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Encarnacion-Strand is now 6-for-12 with two homers in three games since joining the Orioles. His homer today was a 424-footer off Jake Bennett and was one of three hard-hit balls in the game. He figured to play mostly against lefties, but with Samuel Basallo joining Blaze Alexander and Adley Rutschman on the IL, the Orioles don’t have anything to lose by giving him regular at-bats between third and DH for now.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman #32

Making his second start since being called up by the Orioles, Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer before being lifted for a pinch-hitter Monday against the Red Sox.

Both hits came off Payton Tolle. Jackson Holliday then batted for him as soon as the Red Sox brought a righty into the game. The funny thing there is that CES entered tonight with a career .750 OPS against righties and a .469 OPS versus lefties. There’s still some hope for Encarnacion-Strand as a productive corner guy in the majors, but his role with the Orioles figures to be pretty limited.
Samuel Basallo

BAL Catcher #29

Samuel Basallo (shoulder) is not in the lineup for Monday’s game against the Red Sox.

Basallo suffered a right shoulder injury in Sunday’s win over the Astros. This is the second time this summer that Basallo appeared to grab his arm in discomfort after a swing. He didn’t miss time the first time it happened, but it’s unclear if that will be the case now. Coby Mayo will DH and bat fifth, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand will start at third base and bat eighth.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman

Orioles recalled INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand from Triple-A Norfolk.

The 26-year-old slugger, who was acquired from the Reds in mid-April, gets his first chance with the O’s with Blaze Alexander (hand) heading to the injured list. Encarnacion-Strand has hit .273/.309/.555 with 17 homers, 48 RBI and a 77/12 K/BB ratio in 257 plate appearances at Triple-A Norfolk. He’s unlikely to see enough playing time initially to gain relevance from a fantasy perspective.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman

Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run for Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.

Encarnacion-Strand now has 16 home runs and 46 RBI to go along with a .292 average and .924 OPS. His swinging strike rate at Triple-A with Baltimore is almost 16 percent, which is not ideal, but his zone contact rate remains around league average. He’s also sporting a nearly 50 percent hard-hit rate. He’s just 26 years old, so it may not yet be time to fully write him off.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand

BAL 1st Baseman

Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI for Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday.

Since being traded to Baltimore, Encarnacion-Strand has gone 8-for-24 (.333) with two home runs, four RBI, and an 8/3 K/BB ratio in six games. He’s just 26 years old and still has big-time power, so there is a chance he can figure this out in a new organization.

Rotoworld

Yohandy Morales

WSH 3rd Baseman
Player Stats

Personalize your Rotoworld feed by favoriting players

Link copied to clipboard!

Nationals 1B/3B prospect Yohandy Morales went 1-for-5 with an RBI for Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday.

Morales had been sidelined for three weeks with an undisclosed injury, but he has gone 7-for-21 with two home runs and four RBI in his five games since returning. The 40th-overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft is hitting .297/.374/.544 in 89 Triple-A games this season with 23 home runs, 66 RBI, and five steals. He should get a shot with the Nationals at some point to end the year.
- Eric Samulski

Recap

More Yohandy Morales News
Christian Moore

LAA 2nd Baseman #4
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Christian Moore went 3-for-4 with a double, a steal, and a run scored for Triple-A Salt Lake on Wednesday.

Moore is hitting .309/.436/.518 with 10 home runs, 57 RBI, and 14 steals in 80 Triple-A games. Meanwhile, Denzer Guzman is hitting .157 in 16 games since the All-Star break and has just a .626 OPS in 49 MLB games this season.
- Eric Samulski

Recap

More Christian Moore News
Freddie Freeman

LAD 1st Baseman #5
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

The Dodgers are calling Freddie Freeman day-to-day after his fall into the Royals dugout during Wednesday’s game.

Freeman, who was hurt chasing after a foul popup, said he mostly fell on his left hand and shoulder, but he didn’t expect to need X-rays on anything and is hoping to be in the lineup Thursday.
- Matthew Pouliot

Injury

Source: Katie Woo

More Freddie Freeman News
Corey Seager

TEX Shortstop #5
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Corey Seager homered and doubled in a loss to the Angels on Wednesday.

Seager also singled in one of the better offensive games of the season for the 32-year-old. Unfortunately, that’s not the compliment it should be, as Seager is still hitting just .202/.300/.395. It’s too late for Seager to justify where he was drafted, but based on his track record, it’s hard to imagine those numbers aren’t going to jump up over these final six weeks.
- Christopher Crawford

Recap

More Corey Seager News
Mike Trout

LAA Center Fielder #27
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Mike Trout went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs in the Angels’ 5-2 win over the Rangers on Wednesday.

All three hits for Trout were singles up the middle. The future Hall of Famer has now driven in 44 runs, which says more about the hitters that bat behind Trout than anything else. It’s his first multi-hit game in August, and hopefully for fantasy managers/people who like watching historic baseball players succeed, not the last.
- Christopher Crawford

Recap

More Mike Trout News
Ben Joyce

LAA Relief Pitcher #44
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Ben Joyce hurled a scoreless ninth inning to get a save against the Rangers on Wednesday.

Joyce threw three pitches over 100 mph, including one that clocked at 103.4. The flamethrower has his first save of 2026, and while the Angels won’t provide a ton of chances for reasons that aren’t Joyce’s fault, it seems very likely he’ll see more over the final 40 or so games.
- Christopher Crawford

Recap

More Ben Joyce News
George Klassen

LAA Starting Pitcher
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

George Klassen picked up a win after allowing just two runs over six innings against the Rangers on Wednesday.

It’s the first win of the season for Klassen. The outing didn’t get off to a glowing start, as he walked in a run in the second and then gave up a solo homer to Corey Seager an inning later. From that point on, Klassen completely shut down the Texas bats, and lowered his ERA to a still unhealthy 5.86 in the process. Speaking of process, it’d be a mistake in it to trust Klassen as a streamer despite this strong effort when he faces the Astros next week.
- Christopher Crawford

Recap

More George Klassen News
Cal Quantrill

TEX Relief Pitcher #44
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Cal Quantrill struck out six over five innings of one-run baseball, but didn’t factor into the decision against the Angels on Wednesday.

Quantrill did walk three, but he was able to keep that self-inflicted damage at bay while allowing just a Mike Trout RBI single. The 31-year-old has been a pleasant surprise at the back of the Texas rotation, and now has a 3.44 ERA for his trouble. He’ll get a chance to lower it next week against the Nationals, if the Rangers’ rotation order doesn’t change.
- Christopher Crawford

Recap

More Cal Quantrill News
Julio Rodríguez

SEA Center Fielder #44
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Julio Rodríguez went 1-for-3 with two walks and a solo home run against the Yankees.

Rodríguez’ home run was his 19th of the year. He hit a solo shot off Will Warren in the first inning. Rodríguez now has three home runs in his last seven games. His ISO is .171 this year after posting ISOs of at least .207 in three of the first four years of his career. He’s hitting .257 with a .752 OPS and 52 RBI.
- Nick Shlain

Recap

More Julio Rodríguez News
Trent Grisham

NYY Center Fielder #12
Player Stats

Link copied to clipboard!

Trent Grisham went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two home runs and four RBI against the Mariners on Wednesday.

Grisham now has 15 home runs on the season. He hit a solo shot off Bryce Miller in the sixth inning and a two-run shot off Mariners reliever Nick Davila in the eighth inning. Grisham’s power is noticeably down from his career-high 34 home run season last year. He’s hitting .222 with a .732 OPS and 50 RBI.
- Nick Shlain

Recap

More Trent Grisham News