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Inside the Phillies: Assessing Franco's first week in Phillies lineup

DENVER - The youngest position player on the Phillies' 40-man roster was inserted into the lineup two Fridays ago and has since played every inning of every game.

Maikel Franco points to the sky after hitting his first big league home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, May 17, 2015 in Philadelphia. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Maikel Franco points to the sky after hitting his first big league home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, May 17, 2015 in Philadelphia. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

DENVER - The youngest position player on the Phillies' 40-man roster was inserted into the lineup two Fridays ago and has since played every inning of every game.

Thirty-eight plate appearances helped make up Maikel Franco's first nine days as the team's everyday third baseman. The nine-game sample offered more positives than negatives and, most important for the Phillies' future, plenty of the promise the 22-year-old third baseman had displayed the last few seasons in the minors.

Ten of Franco's 35 at-bats resulted in hits, four for extra-bases, and he drove in seven runs. He has four strikeouts and three walks. He checked off the list his first major-league home run and first big-league triple in the same game.(He added another homer on Saturday vs. Washington.) He made a highlight-reel defensive play but also committed three fielding errors.

As he has been throughout his young career, Franco has been aggressive at the plate. He's seen 3.39 pitches per plate appearance. He has swung at the first pitch 10 times, though four of those were over his first seven times in the batter's box. He settled down as his first week back in the majors wore on.

Franco can afford to be aggressive as long as he's offering at good pitches to hit. His first major-league home run came in such a situation, when in the eighth inning last Sunday he cracked Randall Delgado's high, hanging breaking ball into the left-field flower bed at Citizens Bank Park.

"I'd rather guys be aggressive than you have to teach them, 'Hey, don't spot these guys two strikes,' " bench coach Larry Bowa said. "He's going to learn that sometimes these pitchers are going to be throwing balls [on the] first pitch because they know he's so aggressive. And he's got to calculate, 'Hey, if I take one or two pitches, now it's 2-0, I'm going to get a better pitch to hit.'

"But you know what, that's typical for young guys coming up. They're very aggressive, and you don't want to take that away from them. He'll figure it out. I've already seen a big improvement just in the short time he's been up here. The best thing right now is for us to just let him play."

Three of Franco's hits came on breaking balls, the other seven on fastballs. Each of the righty hitter's four extra-base hits were against righthanders. He faced righties in 30 of his plate appearances.

Franco displayed a better ability to hit balls to all fields rather than attempting to pull every pitch. That difference is what stands out to Bowa as Franco's biggest improvement compared with the player's two major-league spring trainings and last September's 56 at-bat audition.

"He's been everything that we thought he would be," Ryan Howard said. "This is just [a matter of] letting him play."

Defensively, Franco flashed the leather Monday night at Denver's Coors Field. He made a diving stop to his left on a sharp ground ball by Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, bounced to his feet, and threw a laser to first base.

"It was a great play," said Colorado's Nolan Arenado, the National League's Gold-Glove winner at third base each of the last two seasons.

But three errors during the four-game series in Colorado overshadowed the impressive diving stab and throw. Franco's first miscue came just three innings later, when he dropped Tulowitzki's chopper down the line. In the first inning Tuesday, on another Tulowitzki ground ball, his throw to Howard at first base sailed high, kick-starting a three-run frame for the Rockies.

Those errors stemmed from what Phillies coaches thought was deep positioning. By setting himself too far back, Franco forced himself to hurry his throws to first.

His third error came Thursday when playing on the opposite side of second base as part of a shift for the lefthanded Carlos Gonzalez. Franco fielded a ground ball, stepped on second base, and threw way wide of Howard.

The learning experiences will continue for Franco, who until Wednesday, when the Phillies brought back 22-year-old starter Severino Gonzalez, was the youngest player in the clubhouse. Since his promotion, Howard, Chase Utley, and Jeff Francoeur have pulled their ballyhooed new teammate aside to offer advice.

"Come in, enjoy. Have fun," Franco said, echoing the veterans' messages. "It's not different. It's the same baseball. The only thing different is you've got more people [watching]. But it's the same thing. It's baseball. Just come in, like you were doing over there [in triple A], just try to put it in here and just enjoy the game and enjoy the moment right now."

Inside the Phillies: From One Season to Another

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In his return to the majors, Maikel Franco is looking more like the player the Phillies expected rather than the one they called up late last year. Here are some of his statistics through his first nine major-league games last season and his first nine this season.

Year   PA   AB   R   H   2B   3B   HR   RBI   BB   SO   Avg.   OBP   SLG   OPS   

2014   33   31   4   6   1   0   0   5   1   5   .194   .212   .226   .438

2015   38   35   7   10   1   1   2   7   3   4   .286   .342   .543   .885

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