Maikel Franco has been on Phillies fans radar’s for almost 2 years now, ever since he mashed pitching in the Florida State League. There was some clamoring for him to win the third base job out of spring training in 2014, but the Phillies sent him to Lehigh Valley for the season. But now it appears they will be calling up the right-handed third baseman, so who is Maikel Franco, and what should Phillies fans expect from Franco going forward.
0. Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez and Building the 2015 Bench
There are few things to say positively about the 2014 Philadelphia Phillies season. We’re nearing the final stretch to the season and September promotions should bring about an ounce of excitement for the faithful fans that still decide to watch this team. One area of the ball club that has been abysmal this season along with the previous years has been the bench.
The collective group of John Mayberry, Tony Gwynn, Cesar Hernandez, Wil Nieves and Reid Brignac is a group of mostly below replacement level players that don’t provide value offensively or even defensively. Nieves is the lone exception and works well with the pitching staff.
Offensively, the Phillies rank 24th in major league baseball, with a .245 on base percentage this season when pinch-hitting. They have a collective .542 OPS, 19th in the league. Their bench options lack positional flexibility and they struggle to get on base. Regardless of how the manager plays the matchups beyond John Mayberry against left handed pitchers, there are no strong options that will yield a positive outcome.
When Should the Phillies Promote Maikel Franco?
Philadelphia Phillies infield prospect Maikel Franco clubbed another home run Wednesday afternoon, adding to a red hot month of July, where the Dominican Republic native is hitting .344/.366/.604 for a .971 OPS. He’s hit three homers over his past ten games and four in July, almost half of his season total of nine homers on … Read more
Futures Game: Maikel Franco
The Phillies had two representatives at the Futures Game this year Maikel Franco and J.P. Crawford. There were a lot of other prospects there, and I will get to them in a later piece. I was able to make the 4.5 hour trek from Madison to Minneapolis to take in the game, which was well … Read more
Phillies Post Trade Deadline Call-Up Options
The Phillies (42-53) lost their second straight game Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, the offense was anemic and pitching was horrific. There are rumors surrounding the impending trades, including a potential Marlon Byrd trade to the Seattle Mariners. There are many names that will be talked about in the coming weeks. Philadelphia sits ten games behind … Read more
Phillies Call Up Cameron Rupp
Rupp is the classic example of a player fitting a role. With Wil Nieves ailing, Rupp will join the Phillies in this role. Rupp will fill in as the primary back up to Carlos Ruiz. At the plate Rupp has plus raw power, but it plays below average due to an arm bar swing that … Read more
Leandro Castro Making a Case to See Philly This Year
It is really easy to gloss over Leandro Castro in a box score. He hasn’t made prospect lists in a while after peaking at #24 after the 2011 season. His stats won’t jump off a page with a career line of .271/.312/.415 and coming off of a season where he hit .256/.280/.368 as a 24 … Read more
What to Make of Cam Perkins
One of the breakout candidates for the first half of the Phillies season has been outfielder Cam Perkins. On his career Perkins is hitting .305/.358/.438 and he has put up gaudy doubles numbers with 74 doubles across 241 games. In 2014 he hit 19 doubles in 52 games for the Reading Fightin Phils. On the first glance these numbers start to create a narrative of a player who should be topping prospect lists. Lets take a deeper look into a player who has been getting a ton of press.
Lets start with the defense. In the field Perkins can play RF, LF, and 1B (he did play 11 games at third base in 2012, his college position). In the outfield he has an average arm, and he is passable on his routes. He has the athleticism to be playable in both corners, but he fits best in left field long term. Overall the defense shouldn’t be a liability, but it isn’t going to help him.