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2023 Player Outlook

2023 Recap: The expectations were sky high around Encarnacion-Strand when he finally got called up, and while he wasn't bad in the beginning, he didn't quite match the hype. Prior to September, he was hitting just .252 with a .396 SLG and sky-high 30.9 percent strikeout rate. However, he eventually settled in, and over his final 89 plate appearances of the year, he slashed .301/.348/.614 with 10 XBH (8 HR), a .313 ISO and 24.7 percent strikeout rate. 

2024 Outlook: There's a logjam in the Cincinnati infield, but his bat is too good to be on the bench, so I expect Cincy to get creative to find ways to get his bat into the lineup. He displayed impressive marks in the minors, and we caught a glimpse of that down the stretch in 2023. It would be great if Cincy would trade an infielder to essentially guarantee every day at-bats for the young star, but if that keeps his price down heading into draft season, fantasy managers should be jumping all over his current price. He won't give you much in the stolen base department, but he has the tools to hit for both average and power, and his ceiling could be something like a .270-.280 average with 28-30 home runs.