FORT MYERS, Fla. – New York high school class of 2017 shortstop prospect Joseph Encarnacion arrived at Terry Park this weekend as an unknown commodity in the collective eyes of Perfect Game’s scouting department. The 6-foot-1, 173-pound right-handed hitter from Queens had never participated in a Perfect Game showcase or tournament and didn’t have a player profile in PG’s extensive prospect database.
This winter, the young Encarnacion and his father, Jose Encarnacion, made the decision to change that. Joseph, a senior at Middle College High School at LaGuardia in Long Island City, N.Y., has not committed to a college and harbors every kid’s dream of one day playing professionally, so he and his father felt it was important that Joseph get out in front of the right group of decision-makers so he could show them what he’s capable of doing.
Terry Park served as host for three Perfect Game events this weekend: the PG World Showcase, which is in its 20th year of providing much-in-demand winter-time scouting opportunities; the PG World Uncommitted Showcase, and the PG National Underclass East Showcase, with the World aimed at the most highly regarded upper-class prospects (class of 2017 this year).
The 17-year-old Encarnacion originally requested an invitation to the PG World but because PG scouts had never seen him play and hadn’t heard a lot about him from outside sources, it was recommended he attend the PG World Uncommitted instead.
As it turned out, his stay at the World Uncommitted on Saturday was a very short one. Once the event’s workout sessions got underway in wet and chilly conditions, PG scouts watched as Encarnacion threw 87 mph across the infield (the second-best effort at the Uncommitted that would have tied for ninth-best at the World) and record a respectable bat-speed exit velocity of 87 mph.
He also showed enough during his batting practice session for a PG scout/blogger to write: “Encarnacion showed good fluidity to swing with lots of bat speed, swings with intent and was successful at jumping the ball loudly to all fields.” And just like that, Encarnacion was told to gather his things and move over to Terry Park Stadium where most of the activities surrounding the PG World Showcase workouts were being held.
“This is about both college and the draft for me. Whatever comes to the table, I’m open,” Joseph said when asked what it meant to him to be “bumped-up” to the World and whatever added opportunities that might present. “But I’ve really devoted my life to baseball, so if I was to get a chance to be drafted, that would be my first goal achieved.”
When asked to talk about himself, Encarnacion said, “I pretty much like to play baseball; that’s just what I like to do.” He tries to train five or six days a week and follow the advice of his father, who formerly pitched in the minor leagues for the Mariners’ and Brewers’ organizations. But the fascinating aspect of Encarnacion’s training program involves how he has spent his last three summers.
While most young prospects his age get involved with national travel ball teams and hit the Perfect Game tournament circuit, Encarnacion loads up his gear and spends three months in the Dominican Republic, his father’s native land.
“I go down there and I get looked at by all the pro teams in the Dominican Republic,” he said. “I train down there, and that’s really where I became a (better) baseball player. As soon as school is out (in New York) I go down there; I’ve been doing that now for three years.”
Through family members and other associates, it has been Jose Encarnacion who’s been able to make those annual trips happen. It’s all part of the effort of getting Joseph into pro ball.
“He’s played a lot, but that’s a different experience for him,” Jose said of his son’s D.R. experiences. “He’s been playing shortstop for a long time and I feel like he’s ready to play professionally right now. I played professionally and I want him to follow me.
“Whatever I tell him, he’ll follow me; he’ll do whatever I say,” Jose continued. “I would like for him to sign professionally, and that’s what I’m looking at for him. He likes baseball, and he’s looking to play baseball every day.”
Joseph Encarnacion’s listed high school is Middle College High School at LaGuardia but he plays baseball at Robert Wagner High School in Long Island City, which shares its program. Based on his prep experiences in the spring and in the Dominican Republic during the summer, he could give a pretty honest assessment of his first go-around at a PG showcase.
“This is a great experience being able to see players that are your same level and some of them a lot higher,” he said. “This is where you really find out (about yourself) and I feel like I can compete at this level. I’ll see where this takes me from here.”
The young Encarnacion is also familiar with the history of the PG World Showcase– he knew, for example, that Carlos Correa threw and event-record 97 mph across the infield at Terry Park Stadium in 2012 – and uses some of the past performances posted by World Showcase alumni turned MLB players (and there have been 121 of them) as motivation.
“You see all these big-leaguers that have been here and you can say, OK., I’m in a place where they were once, too, and maybe one day I can be where they’re at,” Joseph said. “That’s been my goal since I first went to the D.R. when I see kids that are 14 (years old) getting ready to sign. Those players down there are very good, and when the scouts see me they tell me that I’m as good as them.”
At this point in his development, Joseph Encarnacion feels like the best parts of his game are his ability to make contact at the plate and the work he can do with his hands, arm and feet while playing shortstop. It was a result of putting each one of those skills on display on Saturday that got Encarnacion a promotion to the World Showcase, and he did a good job of showing it was warranted.