Jerar Encarnación’s bad injury luck continues.
After hitting a 442-foot home run to left center in the Giants’ 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the right fielder exited Wednesday’s game at PNC Park with a right hamstring injury when hustling to first base on a ground-out in the seventh.
Encarnación, enduring his third hiccup of the year, limped to the dugout and received help from trainer Dave Groeschner. Outfielder Grant McCray finished the game for his banged-up teammate.
Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the win that he feels for the 27-year-old, who had just returned from a lengthy oblique injury on Saturday, and that the early prognosis isn’t promising.
“Right hamstring,” Melvin said. “He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow. It did not — it doesn’t look good.”
Encarnación, of course, has had his fair share of injuries in 2025. He fractured his hand near the end of his strong spring and hurt his oblique soon after his return in June.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pounder seemed to have come back with force before Wednesday’s incident, having hit a 415-foot homer to center in San Francisco’s 8-1 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
That part stings Melvin the most.
“You get hurt in spring training, you’re playing catch-up all the time,” Melvin said of Encarnación. “We get him back here the first time … and now he finally gets enough at-bats, we see the type of at-bats we’ve been wanting from him — especially off of left-handed pitching.
“And he’s going to be down for a while now, unfortunately.”
Encarnación again will have to claw back from what sounds like a soon-to-be frustratingly long stint on the injured list.
The Giants, with a 58-57 record after winning three of their last four games, surely hope Encarnación can return during the 2025 MLB season.
“It just ends up being, so far, a really tough year for him,” Melvin said.
San Francisco needs all the firepower it can get, as it trails the New York Mets (63-52) by five games for the NL’s final Wild Card spot.
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