Juan Encarnación

Juan Encarnación
Encarnacion with the St. Louis Cardinals
Outfielder
Born: (1976-03-08) March 8, 1976 (age 40) Las Matas de Farfán, Dominican Republic
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 2, 1997, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
August 31, 2007, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.270
Home runs	156
Runs batted in	667
Teams
Detroit Tigers (1997–2001) Cincinnati Reds (2002) Florida Marlins (2002–2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) Florida Marlins (2004–2005) St. Louis Cardinals (2006–2007)
Career highlights and awards
2× World Series champion (2003, 2006)

Juan De Dios Encarnación (born March 8, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. Encarnación suffered a career-ending injury after getting hit in the eye by a foul ball on August 31, 2007.

Encarnación was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1992, at age 17, and made his Major League debut in 1997 at age 21 for the Tigers. He was the fourth youngest player in the AL that year. Encarnación played for the Tigers until 2002, when he was traded and had his best season as a Cincinnati Red and Florida Marlin, hitting a career-high 24 home runs and driving in 85 runs. In 2003 he had 94 RBI as well as a team-leading 37 doubles on the way to a World Series ring after winning the 2003 World Series with Florida. He was then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in December of that year. He was traded back to Florida midway through the 2004 season along with Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota for Brad Penny, Bill Murphy, and Hee-seop Choi after hitting a disappointing .235 in 86 games. Encarnación bounced back with a solid year in 2005, batting .287 with 16 homers and 76 runs batted in. He was also on the roster for the Dominican team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Encarnación signed a three-year contract with St. Louis on December 23, 2005, worth $15 million.