Franco's Blast Proves Game Winner; What Is His Future with the Phillies?

A somewhat unlikely hero emerged from the Phillies' shut-out of the Braves yesterday: Maikel Franco.

After showing promise in the 2015 season, and being the recipient of praise from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt during the 2016 preseason, Franco's performance at the plate has been disappointing.  With 304 at-bats in 2015, Franco hit .280, with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs.  In 2016, with 581 at-bats, his average fell to .255.  Despite his 25 home runs and 88 RBIs, Manager Pete Mackanin exclaimed that he wanted to see improvement in Franco in 2017.  Instead, Franco's average fell to .231.  With six games left in the season, his home run total is 21 and his RBI total is 70.

Franco's sub-par offensive performance, and Freddy Galvis' impressive play at shortstop, caused the Phillies to experiment with rookie J.P Crawford.  Known for being a shortstop for most of his minor league career, Crawford played a few games near the end of the AAA season at third base.  This showed a reluctance on the part of the Phillies to bring Crawford up to the major leagues to displace Galvis.  Indeed, Crawford has seen much playing time at third base, at the expense of Franco.

Nonetheless, it appears as though Franco has responded to the new found competition by performing better on the field.  In September, Franco is now batting .294.  Yesterday, Franco's fifth inning solo home run proved to be the only run that the Phillies needed behind the strong pitching of Nick Pivetta.

With a strong crop of rookies being injected in to the major league team, Franco's future with the Phillies is in doubt.  Nick Williams and Rhys Hoskins have provided the power that was expected from Franco.  Crawford's glove has been impressive, giving the Phillies a crowded infield.  Still, Phillies management continues to express confidence in Franco, with General Manager Matt Klentak expressing that Franco has too much talent to give up on him now.

With a performance like yesterday, it appears that the Phillies will continue to give Franco an opportunity to showcase his talent.  The question is for long will that last.  With Crawford's display of fielding prowess, there has been much debate on exactly what the make-up of the Phillies infield will be in 2018.  Add to that the potential availability of star third baseman Manny Machado at the end of next season, and there will pressure on Franco to reach his maximum potential next season.

William J. Kovatch, Jr.

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