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Phillies 2017 Season Preview: Third Baseman Maikel Franco

By Evan Gusz

Oct 1, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco (7) in action during a baseball game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco (7) in action during a baseball game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s on for Maikel Franco. This year is going to tell Phillies fan and management exactly what they have on their hands manning the hot corner.

Maikel Franco is supposed to be one of the Phillies‘ cornerstone players – a guy who will anchor the team through their next bout of contending for a championship. And why not? In 2014 as a 20 year old farmhand he was one of the best prospects in the sport. However things haven’t gone exactly as planned for the Dominican-born slugger.

This is a big year for Franco. The proverbial “put up or shut up” season. After a disappointing 2016 campaign which saw Franco hit a somewhat dismal .255/.306/.427 he’s expected to pick himself up, dust himself off and put together a season that proves those 2014 prognostications correct.

By all accounts it seems as though Franco has the talent to be a great hitter but he just…isn’t. Not yet at least.

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Of all the players on the roster it’s most likely Franco who will benefit most by the hiring of  Matt Stairs as new hitting coach. It wasn’t too long ago that Franco himself admitted to not really having a plan for his at bats and that poor strategy showed in his numbers. He was 122nd out of 146 in OBP last year and his base-on-balls percentage of 6.3% ranked 119th. There’s really no nice way to say it – Franco was bad.

That lack of approach showed up in his swing percentage. Franco swung at 52.1% of the pitches he saw and more than a third of them (34.5%) would have been balls. Further, his contact rate on those out of the zone pitches, 61.5% (ranked 103 out of 146), proves that he was swinging at pitches he had no chance of hitting effectively.

But Stairs is likely to heavily preach a better approach with Franco. While in the booth last year Stairs could frequently be heard dissecting Franco’s approach and there were times when a palpable desperation to help could be heard in his voice.

Franco’s main area of focus for improvement should be in pitch selection. If he can manage to cut down on his swings the results should express themselves in two key areas – walks and average.

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If Franco is able to better identify balls and strikes he’ll find himself in less 0-2 counts, where his performance takes a very serious dip. As a testament to how poor he was with two strikes he had the ninth worst batting average, .128, through an 0-2 count (among players with at least 100 plate appearances).  If he can manage to stay out of those counts where he’s behind his overall results should greatly improve. During 2016, in counts where Franco is ahead his line skyrockets to .297/.430/.503, an improvement of .435 OPS points over when he’s behind.

With regards to Franco’s defense there’s definitely room for improvement but it’s not a serious concern. Those who watch Franco play know he’s a capable third basemen who can occasionally pull off a spectacular play. As Franco develops there’s every chance that his fielding will as well and he’ll keep focus during the routine plays. The advanced metrics aren’t very kind to him but there’s no concern that he would have to move off the position any time soon.

Should Franco reach his potential at the plate there’s no doubt very few people would complain about his defense.

Next: Prospect-Laden Lineup Set for Tampa Exhibition Game

It’s Franco’s time if he want’s it. This year could make him a superstar or it could start his trek to “placeholder.” It’s up to him.

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