Phillies' Ben Francisco aiming to take sole possession of right field

CLEARWATER, Fla. - In November, Ben Francisco married his longtime girlfriend, Cindy, in Kansas City, Mo., with about 150 people in attendance. The couple honeymooned in Bali for 12 days, and Francisco returned to Scottsdale, Ariz., where he makes his off-season home.

"I had my fun time," Francisco said. "After that, it was back to work."

A few days into Francisco's training program at Athletes' Performance Institute in Phoenix, Jayson Werth signed a seven-year, $126 million deal with Washington. What the 29-year-old Francisco assumed had now become reality.

"The only thing you can ask for is a chance to compete, and they're giving me that chance," Francisco said. "It's all I've ever wanted or asked for."

So here is Francisco, who will compete with a player six years younger for a shot at a starting spot in right field. The Phillies could decide to platoon Francisco and Domonic Brown, but with a good spring by either player, the job can be won outright.

And Francisco, who has lived in relative obscurity since being a throw-in of the original Cliff Lee trade, is convinced he can be the man.

"I don't want to put myself in the kind of box where I can only hit lefties," Francisco said. "Last year, my only opportunity to play was against lefties. This year, I'm confident I can hit righties, and I want to play as much as I can."

He played in only 88 games in 2010, and his 179 at-bats were his fewest in any pro season. He still hit .268 with a .768 OPS and was most effective against lefthanders as manager Charlie Manuel attempted to restrict his appearances against righties.

Francisco is the quiet type, and during the season when playing time was limited, he'd sometimes sit in the clubhouse fiddling around on his iPad. He tried extra batting practice and new routines, but mostly he watched.

"When you take a step back and watch the game, there are a lot of things you can learn," said Francisco, echoing one of Manuel's favorite sayings. "You watch guys who are like yourself, other hitters, and see what their approach is. Take notes from guys' swings and work on them yourself. That's what I did."

And maybe the lack of playing time is why Ruben Amaro Jr. singled out Francisco many times during the winter, a verbal and public vote of confidence from the general manager for a player who hadn't seen the field much as a Phillie.

Shortly after Werth signed, Amaro called Francisco to tell his player the same thing he told reporters.

"He didn't really need to tell me that, but I appreciated it," Francisco said. "I'm confident in myself."

Then came the conversations with Werth, who was close with Francisco and saw a bit of himself in his understudy.

"I was happy for him, obviously," Francisco said. "He was excited to get a lot of money, but he told me good luck."

Werth wasn't an everyday player until he turned 29, and even then he began the season in a platoon. That was in 2008, when Geoff Jenkins shared right field with Werth. Eventually, Werth took over, and the Phillies won the World Series.

In four major-league seasons, Francisco has similar numbers to Werth's first five seasons, but it's hard to compare the two. Werth had the raw tools that caught scouts' eyes, enough so to make him a first-round pick. Francisco was a fifth-round pick out of college in 2002 by Cleveland.

Werth's advice to his teammate was patience. Now, Francisco feels as if he's spent enough time waiting.

"This is mine now," Francisco said. "I'm ready for it."