Rookie Franco is slumping along with Phillies

The long major-league baseball season will consist of several ebbs and flows for rookie third baseman Maikel Franco. This most recent stretch of games has offered of a reminder of that.

After a hot start following his much-anticipated May 15 season debut with the Phillies, Franco has cooled off over the team's season-worst seven-game losing streak. The promising 22-year-old Dominican enters the series opener Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds mired in a 2-for-27 slump.

"It's a game of adjustments," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That's something that a young player has to go through and try and go for solid contact rather than too big of a swing.

"For a lot of our guys, [they need to] cut down the swings and [get] a little bit better contact, consistently. When we were winning some games, we were better at that."

Franco is hitless in his last 12 at-bats since a 7-0 loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday at Citi Field. His other hit during this slump came the night before, when he put the Phillies ahead by a run with a clutch eighth-inning single.

This past weekend's series against the Colorado Rockies was a poor one for Franco at the plate. He reached base just once in 12 plate appearances, on a four-pitch walk from Colorado lefthander Chris Rusin in the seventh inning on Sunday. He battled through his second-inning at-bat against righthander Jordan Lyles, fouling off eight pitches in a marathon 12-pitch at-bat, but lined out to left field.

Franco goes into Tuesday's game with a .194 average and a .339 slugging percentage, having played every inning in the 16 games since his promotion from triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was 10 for 35 with four extra-base hits - two home runs - over his first nine games back with the Phillies.

"It's baseball. Just sometimes you're back and forth [with your production], and that's what it is right now," Franco said. "That's what's happening right now. I'm just trying to get better every day. [I'm] coming in and trying to do something different to change that."

Franco's walk on Sunday was his first since May 21. He has drawn only four since his promotion but has struck out just nine times.

His first slump of the season has coincided with that of shortstop and No. 2 hitter Freddy Galvis, the Phillies' hottest hitter through the season's first six weeks. (Galvis' average has dropped from .355 to .289 since May 15.) The team has mustered a mere 12 runs over its seven-game losing streak, which dropped it back to last place in the National League East.

"For a hitter, it's back and forth," said Franco, who along with his teammates will face a stiff challenge in Reds ace Johnny Cueto on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "You have to continue to stay strong, stay positive and just keep working hard."

The Phillies on Monday released outfielder Grady Sizemore, whom they had designated for assignment Friday upon recalling Cody Asche from triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Sizemore, 32, hit .245 over 39 games with the Phillies this season. He signed a one-year, $2 million contract in October.

@jakemkaplan