Ben Francisco Doing Pretty Good Despite Your Doubts

Ben’s progress report for the past three days reads like a vaguely erotic email from your boss, written in the third person.

"“Ben Francisco tends to speak more with his bat than his tongue.  That’s just the way Charlie Manuel likes it.”"

So as you wash the sleaze off you, just calm yourself with the image of Benny Fresh doing some impressive things this weekend.  And, in the vein of “comparisons to Jayson Werth,” there were actually very few.  Sure, there was at least one on Sportsrise a minute ago from Leslie Gudel, but that was nothing that a doughnut thrown at the television couldn’t cure.

Benny came out the gate pretty much as quickly as he had arrived on the other side of it in spring training; a home run, 6-for-13, 4 RBI, 4 R, and a mammoth, cage-rattling catch in right.  He also tried to kill Shane Victorino, but I’ve found that when he ignore the negatives, they seem to have less of an affect on one’s mood.

Obviously, we don’t need to preface any of this with terms like “just three games” or “small sample size” because we are all pretty aware of what point of the season we’re in.  And while some people may have found reasons to panic, elsewhere or right here in town, Benny has provided some nonchalant reinforcement to something that may have entered J-Dub’s head while he helping the Nationals lose by nine runs:  He’s been replaced.

So let’s not make a huge deal out of it–like make irrational claims or dedicate entire blog posts–give it the applause it deserves, and hope it continues for some time.

Plus, he’s not even 30, so we have at least one good year left before his bones turn to dust!