I would have loved to have the opportunity for a major leaguer to help me adjust.” “To tell me what I needed to do on the field and off the field.

“I didn’t have the opportunity for players in the big leagues to come and talk to me and tell me what I needed to do to make it to the big leagues,” Encarnacion said. In particular, Encarnacion sees an opportunity to offer advice that wasn’t readily available to him as a young player climbing towards the major leagues. And seeing him around the batting cages the past few days, many have taken advantage of the opportunity to engage with one of the franchise’s best hitters.įrom Guerrero, to Bo Bichette, to Matt Chapman and young prospect Orelvis Martinez, it has been a broad cross-section of Jays seeking knowledge from a guy who had 424 homers in his 16-year career. While with the Jays for a couple of weeks here, EE’s role has been that of a glorified consultant. It was incredible,” Encarnacion said of Guerrero, whose camp has temporarily been slowed by a minor knee injury. “I had a chance to see him since he was a kid and now he’s in the big leagues and he’s been an all star and a superstar.”Įncarnacion has vivid recollection of a 14-year-old Guerrero belting home runs during batting practice back in the Dominican. I feel very proud about him,” Encarnacion said of a Dominican protege excelling in a city that has embraced so many stars from the island over the years. So to see Guerrero follow in those considerable footsteps has been gratifying.” Why not? I told him it’s a good place for him and he liked it.”Įncarnacion’s own fond memories of the city “that made me who I am” have remained with him.

“But I did tell him that if you go there you will have the opportunity. “I didn’t tell him to do it, to go to Toronto, that was his decision,” Encarnacion said in an interview on Saturday at the Jays player development complex. In fact, Encarnacion played a small role in helping the first baseman decide to sign with the Jays as a 16-year-old back in 2015.Įncarnacion, here on the invitation of Toronto general manager Ross Atkins as a guest instructor, recalls trying to steer the young teen to the city that gave him the best years of his MLB career back when he circled the bases with an imaginary parrot on his arm. – From one slugging Dominican superstar to another, Edwin Encarnacion has great admiration for his would-be successor, Vlad Guerrero Jr.

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