It only took one week for Terry Francona to bench this slumping Reds slugger

Christian Encarnacion-Strand returned to the Cincinnati Reds roster on June 6 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and quickly reminded the fanbase of his prodigious power. Encarnacion-Strand walloped three home runs in three games and was key to the Reds sweep of the D-backs a little over a week ago.

But since that three-game stretch, Encarnacion-Strand has been a shadow of that player, and Terry Francona has quickly moved the slugger from the starting lineup to the bench. After that outburst versus Arizona, Encarnacion-Strand has gone 4-for-31 without single extra-base hit and a 29% strikeout rate.

Encarnacion-Strand has been riding the pine the past two games in St. Louis, and it remains to been if he'll be back in the Reds' starting lineup for Cincinnati's series finale on Sunday against the Cardinals. It took about a week for Francona to bench Encarnacion-Strand, but the Reds' manager has not applied that same standard evenly this season.

Reds manager Terry Francona benched Christian Encarnacion-Strand while Spencer Steer & Matt McLain were spared

It's curious that Francona had such a quick hook with Encarnacion-Strand while players like Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Will Benson, and Santiago Espinal were given a much longer leash. All four players have struggled mightily at times this season, and despite those slumps, Francona stuck with them.

No player has struggled more than McLain this season. Though Francona did push the former first-round pick all the way down to No. 9 in the batting order, the Reds skipper kept McLain in the starting lineup. McLain has since responded and has been the Reds' best hitter for over a week.

Steer began the season hitting .224/.294/.333 with a 71 wRC+ through the month of May, but Francona kept trotting him out there. Steer has shown signs of a return to the player he once was, with a .500 slugging percentage over his last 40 plate appearances.

It's curious, however, that Encarnacion-Strand has not received that same leniency. No one on the Reds roster, outside of Elly De La Cruz, has the type of power present in Encarnacion-Strand's bat. His defense, however, is questionable, and could be the chief reason Francona has sat him for the past two games. A throwing error during the sixth inning against the Twins last Tuesday led to a four-run inning, and could've been the catalyst for Encarnacion-Strand's benching.

Reds fans are eager to see Encarnacion-Strand back in the lineup, but perhaps Francona is seeing something the Cincinnati faithful are not. The Reds could use Encarnacion-Strand's bat on Sunday as they try to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals.

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