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Phillies' Maikel Franco starting to see spring work pay off

A new mind-set has helped the third baseman to be more productive at the plate.

LOS ANGELES - Maikel Franco spent almost two months this spring as Matt Stairs' top pupil. The first-year hitting coach did not want Franco to change his approach to hitting, but he instructed the slugger to alter his mind-set. Relax, Stairs told Franco, and try to hit the ball up the middle.

It produced in spring training as Franco used a balanced attack to have a strong camp. Then the season started and Franco struggled with a .148 batting average in his first 14 games. His spring work seemed wasted. The third baseman rallied last week and boarded the team's plane for Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon with .391 batting average in his last six games. Franco's season appears back on track.

"I think he worked on it in the spring because it doesn't count, it doesn't matter," manager Pete Mackanin said before Friday night's game against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. "Then all of a sudden the bell rings, you get in front of 40,000 people, and it all means something. You get into your comfort zone of 'Hey, I have to swing hard.' He's not missing good pitches to hit. I think it's because he's working so much on staying up the middle more than anything."

Franco struck out last season in 17 percent of his plate appearances, while walking in just six percent.

His mind-set of simply just wanting to crush balls to right field affected his pitch recognition. He sat on inside pitches, which made him vulnerable and helped the strikeouts rack up. He has struck out in 12 percent of his plate appearances this season while walking in nine percent. It is another sign of progress and proof that his seven weeks of spring training is finally paying off.

"I tried to just think about nothing," Franco said about his slow start. "I tried to go up there, play the game the right way, and do everything I could to help the team win. I didn't change my approach, just tried to see the ball and put contact on it. I have to get more confident and concentrate on middle, middle, away. In batting practice, everything I hit is middle right field. That's what I want to work on and keep doing. Not try to pull everything. Just think about middle."

Rupp struggling

Cameron Rupp, who batted eighth on Friday, entered the game batting just .170 in his first 47 at-bats. Manager Pete Mackanin thinks the catcher needs to alter his swing.

"In my opinion, he's working underneath the ball too much," Mackanin said. "He's missing a lot of good pitches to hit and that's because he's dropping his backside. . . . I think that's the basic flaw of a lot of hitters. There's this trend to lifting the ball in the air. My thing is that's misinterpreted by the hitters."

Extra Bases

The Phillies entered Friday on a six-game winning streak. "We're doing well. This should be an interesting trip." ...The Phillies will miss Clayton Kershaw in Los Angels but they should see Jake Arrieta when they visit Wrigley Field for a four-game series on Monday. . . . Zach Eflin will pitch Saturday against Brandon McCarthy. Eflin's rookie season ended last season with a foot injury at Dodger Stadium.

mbreen@phillynews.com

@matt_breen www.philly.com/philliesblog