Cleveland Indians: Edwin Encarnacion slowly heating up at the plate

Edwin Encarnacion got off to a slow start with the Cleveland Indians, but he has begun to turn it around after piecing together several good games.

It is fair to say that Cleveland Indians fans are disappointed with Edwin Encarnacion‘s start to the season. While it is hard to place major expectations on any player in April, fans believed he would come in and dominate right away.

That has not been the case, as Encarnacion currently has a .212 batting average to go along with just two home runs. He has also struck out at least once in every game this season, which is not a great sign after fans watched Mike Napoli swing and miss often throughout 2016.

The start has indeed been slow, but it has only been 14 games. Players like Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are off to amazing starts, but Encarnacion is not known for his fast starts.

The focus is on his power at the plate, but he only had three home runs in April 2016, while he had four in April 2015. That makes his current mark of two on April 19 look a little better when considering how he has finished the past two seasons.

And even with his slow start he has begun to turn things around as of late.

Encarnacion has picked up hits in each of the last five games, which included a home run in Tuesday night’s victory over the Minnesota Twins.

He is not on a historic tear as of right now, but a home run last night may be enough to help get his confidence back, if it was ever lost in the first place.

Fans need only to look at Jose Ramirez as an example of a player who turned things around fast.

He was sparked by a 4-for-4 performance on Saturday that included two home runs and six RBI. If a young player like Ramirez can turn things around in an instant, an experienced veteran like Encarnacion should be approaching such a stretch.

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Getting hits five games in a row is a good start, and he now needs to keep it going to spark the rest of the offense to have more games like the 11-run outburst last night. Because if Encarnacion gets going in a similar fashion to Ramirez and Lindor, this offense is going to be unstoppable heading into the summer.