Jeremiah Jenkins missed the first month and a half of the minor league baseball season for the San Francisco Giants organization while recovering from offseason hand surgery.
But the hand is now pain-free and the former University of Maine slugging first baseman and two-time All-American has been making up for lost time.
The 22-year-old Jenkins, a 14th round draft choice of the Giants a year ago and the 418th overall pick, has hit .379 in the month of August with the Class A San Jose Giants. He has a homer and 10 runs batted in.
Including the last three games of July, Jenkins has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games at a .366 clip.
In Tuesday’s 13-2 win over Lake Elsinore, he had his first three-hit game of the season for San Jose with a double and two singles.
He didn’t play his first game until May 15 and that was with the Arizona Complex (Rookie) League Giants.
After a slow start with seven hits in 27 at-bats (.259), he erupted for 13 hits in his next 27 at-bats and got called up to San Jose on June 12.
Between the two teams, he is hitting .290 and is averaging more than one run-batted-in per game with 56 RBIs in 53 games. He has six homers, 11 doubles and four triples. He has also walked 31 times and struck out 36 times.
“I’ve been swinging it well,” Jenkins said. “It’s exciting. I’m just trying to get into a little rhythm here. I want to finish off the second half strong.”
The 6-foot-4, 238-pound lefthanded hitter from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, had broken a bone in his hand through “repetitive swinging” and said he overcame his slow start by adjusting his mental approach.
“I had to calm everything down,” Jenkins said. “When I came back, I was trying to do way too much. I was shooting myself in the foot.”
He has been alternating between first base and designated hitter and credited his teammates for getting on base, which has led to his 56 RBIs in 53 games.
As he did at UMaine, where he hit .332 during his three-year career with 50 homers and 153 RBIs in 148 games, Jenkins is hitting the ball to all fields.
During his three-hit game against Lake Elsinore, he belted his double to center field and his two singles to left.
He also drew two walks. Jenkins takes pride in drawing walks because he wants to be the type of hitter who gets on base regularly, he said. His on-base percentage between the two teams is .402.
The three-time All-America East selection and the 2023 America East Player of the Year said he is happy with his progress in the Giants organization so far and said he has learned a lot, especially about the business side of pro sports.
He said it’s nice to be able to call himself a professional baseball player and is “grateful” for the opportunity.
“I know guys who would give their left arms to have the opportunity to be a professional baseball player,” said Jenkins, who was one of few Division I players to have back-to-back 20-homer seasons as he had 21 homers in 2023 and 22 in 2024.
UMaine’s all-time leader in slugging percentage (.675) is one of just three two-time All-Americans, along with Billy Swift and Mark Sweeney.
Jenkins, who hit .295 with two homers and seven RBIs in 11 games for San Jose last summer after signing with the Giants, said he would like to earn a call-up to High-A affiliate Eugene (Oregon) this season and join former UMaine teammate Quinn McDaniel.
Former UMaine pitcher Nick Sinacola is also in the Giants organization with AA Richmond.
Jenkins said it is important to just concentrate on swinging the bat well and the rest will take care of itself.
“If you hit, they’ll find room for you,” Jenkins said.
