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TORONTO -- The Blue Jays are attempting to increase Edwin Encarnacion's versatility by having the 28-year-old take fly balls in left field.

There is no immediate plan to give Encarnacion a start in the outfield, but he practiced there for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.

"This is about making the most of the remaining two months that we have," said Toronto manager John Farrell. "We're ever evaluating players. Edwin has done an outstanding job at the plate, he's in a run right now at the plate that I think everyone's been accustomed to from what he did a year ago.

"Not only is he producing offensively, but he's working deep counts, he's taking his walks when needed."

Toronto has a $3.5 million club option on Encarnacion for the 2012 season. If the Blue Jays decide to exercise that extra year, then Encarnacion's work in the outfield could potentially pay dividends while the club takes part in Interleague Play.

"When we go into National League parks, the versatility of a guy that has predominantly been a DH shows up so much more," Farrell said. "The fact that he could go to third base when we were in St. Louis had a lot to do with us sweeping that series.

"So to be limited by a DH that doesn't have a position or takes another guy out of the lineup, we're trying to keep that flexibility going forward."

Encarnacion extended his hitting streak to 10 games Thursday with an RBI infield single in the fourth inning. Since July 7, he leads the Major Leagues with an on-base percentage of .478, and over the same span, he leads the American League in OPS (1.097), is tied for second in doubles (11) and ranks third in batting average (.381).

Duffman100 wrote:Why limit his errors to just one position?

TorontoRaptures wrote:EE has been red hot the past month or two. He's been painfully inconsistent over his career, but when he's on, he can really mash. Also, his defense seems to have improved quite a lot.

One final thought to consider:
EE is 28 years old and has a career .791 OPS.
Lind's 28 years old and has a career .793 OPS.

JoeyBats wrote:

Duffman100 wrote:Why limit his errors to just one position?

Hey, i'm not sure if you're joking but his defense has come a long way.

Duffman100 wrote:

JoeyBats wrote:

Duffman100 wrote:Why limit his errors to just one position?

Hey, i'm not sure if you're joking but his defense has come a long way.

I'm not sure if you're joking.

hyper316 wrote:- sign Fielder for 1B, move Lind to LF.

kwamebargnani wrote:Hey, i'm not sure if you're joking but his defense has come a long way.

Relentless88 wrote:

TorontoRaptures wrote:EE has been red hot the past month or two. He's been painfully inconsistent over his career, but when he's on, he can really mash. Also, his defense seems to have improved quite a lot.

One final thought to consider:
EE is 28 years old and has a career .791 OPS.
Lind's 28 years old and has a career .793 OPS.

Just proves that Lind is not a dependable first basemen if we want to content. .793 career OPS is not going to cut it in the AL East.

We need Fielder or Pujols this off season. Or someone else via trade.

augustine wrote:Playing EE at 2nd could solve a lot of problems. Question is, can he play there? His defensive issues have always been throw related, so this may be easier from 2B. The DP may be a problem. But then, when you think of it, the only whole next year is 2B, and the only player without a role (assuming Thames is DH and Snider is LF, which is how it should be) is Encarnacion.