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Maikel Franco returns to Phillies lineup after two-game benching

The Phillies' Maikel Franco will bat fourth to start Thursday's 1:05 p.m. game against Colorado.

The plan, Pete Mackanin said, was no plan. The Phillies manager searched for a solution to spark his third baseman, entertaining all scenarios without a set time frame. When lowering Maikel Franco in the lineup did not change the results, Mackanin benched him.

That lasted for two days.

Franco, 24, is back in Mackanin's lineup. And he's batting fourth, a spot he has not occupied in two weeks. This is Franco's chance to sink or swim, and it is a critical time in his development.

Howie Kendrick is scheduled to play third base on Thursday for triple-A Lehigh Valley. Kendrick played six innings Wednesday in left field. He'll spend at least four games in the minors to rehab his strained abdominal muscle.

After that? The Phillies want to learn as much as they can in 2017 about their young players. If that means Franco must go to the minors for a brief period to reset, then it is an option the Phillies could exhaust.

No one in the organization wants to see it reach that point. So Franco, beginning with Thursday's assignment against Colorado lefthander Tyler Anderson, has a chance to flip the narrative.

It will be fascinating to see how he responds.

The lineup for Game 45:

1. Cesar Hernandez 2B
2. Aaron Altherr LF
3. Odubel Herrera CF
4. Maikel Franco 3B
5. Michael Saunders RF
6. Tommy Joseph 1B
7. Cameron Rupp C
8. Freddy Galvis SS
9. Vince Velasquez RHP