Phillies should never let Maikel Franco play in MLB again
The Phillies lost in embarrassing fashion on Friday night. Many were at fault, but Maikel Franco may be the biggest eyesore out of them all.
The Phillies, in one of the most embarrassing showings anyone has seen, lost to the Marlins on Friday night by a score of 19-11, in a game in which they were once leading 7-0.
The finger-pointing can go almost anywhere, from Vince Velasquez blowing the lead in the third inning by allowing seven of the eight batters he faced to score, to Nick Pivetta or Ranger Suarez, and more.
But what bothered me most about last night’s loss was Maikel Franco. Franco was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley as outfielder Bryce Harper was placed on paternity leave, who will likely not rejoin the team until the next series.
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Franco didn’t come into the game until the fourth inning when he pinch-hit for starting third baseman Brad Miller. Franco got an RBI single to score Jean Segura to put Philadelphia up 8-7.
All is good, right? Of course not.
In the bottom of the fifth with one out and the Phils up 9-7, Starlin Castro pinch-hit with the bases loaded. He hit a ground ball to Franco, who misplayed it. It trickled into left field, and two runs scored. Tie game.
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Mind you, it was a double-play ball that would have ended the inning. Three more runs scored to follow. He also threw away a routine ground ball later in the game.
Those two plays are the reason why Maikel Franco should never sniff a major-league diamond again. The club has given him enough chances, and the one time they could really use an inning-ending double play, Franco comes in and blows it.
Franco was not the only player to have fielding miscues last night. But it happens far too often with him. As a big-league player of his fifth full season, that’s a play you have to make.
I’d like to know how many more chances they will give Franco not just this season, but in the years remaining on his team control. If I were GM Matt Klentak, that number would be zero.
Of course, Klentak was the guy who thought Zach Eflin, Pivetta, and Velasquez were all going to take huge steps this year. But that’s for another day.
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I’ve seen enough of Franco to discover that he simply isn’t a major league ballplayer. After his hot start to April, there has been absolutely no indication that he belongs on this team. I expect him to come back once September call-ups roll around, but Phillies fans are better off seeing him wearing a completely different uniform next year.