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Phillies: Comparing Mike Moustakas to Maikel Franco

By Sean Resch

UST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 17: Maikel Franco #7 of the the Philadelphia Phillies fields a ground ball against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning at Busch Stadium on May 17, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
UST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 17: Maikel Franco #7 of the the Philadelphia Phillies fields a ground ball against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning at Busch Stadium on May 17, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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Phillies
CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 13: Mike Moustakas #8 of the Kansas City Royals waits to bat against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning at Progressive Field on May 13, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians defeated the Royals 11-2. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /

Offense

Moustakas and Franco have extremely similar slash lines this season. Moustakas is hitting .261/.317/.477 compared to Franco’s .258/.302/.442.  The slight edge goes to Moustakas, but he is not a significantly better batter this year.  His numbers are also slightly higher than his career slash line, so there is always the chance of regression to the mean.

If you factor in last season, the numbers begin to change, and that’s what the Phillies are likely looking at.  From the start of the 2017 season until now, Moustakas is 23 points higher than Franco in batting average, 24 points higher in OBP, and 73 points higher in slugging percentage.

The biggest disparity between the two players comes in the power department.  Between this year and last year, Moustakas has hit 54 home runs.  Maikel Franco, in the same period of time, has hit 34.

It is easy to see why the Phils are interested in the Royals’ third baseman when you look beyond the 2018 season.  He would be a significant upgrade in the power department.  Even if the rest of the numbers are similar to Franco, the power alone is enough to win the Phillies a couple more games.

Edge: Moustakas

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