Philadelphia Phillies’ Maikel Franco Playing Like He Wants To Be All-Star Third Baseman

Nothing is trickier than picking up in the regular season where the Spring Training season left off, but Maikel Franco of the Philadelphia Phillies is doing just that.

In just seven games through Tuesday night, Franco is hitting .346 with a home run and three RBI with an on-base-percentage of .414. Even if he levels off slightly below those numbers, he has a good chance of being voted the starting third baseman in the All-Star game. These numbers are not outliers, but more indicative of his entire professional career.

He gave notice that his wrist was fully healed after a late August injury last year with a spectacular spring that saw him hit .295, with eight home runs — the most home runs of any MLB player in exhibition games. Last year, despite missing the last month with that wrist injury and the first month due to being in the minors, he still found the time to hit 14 home runs with 50 RBI. That was his rookie season. This year he’s confident, comfortable and looks like he belongs at the age of 23. He is a terrific fielder whose glove made him a regular visitor to the nightly sports network top 10 plays and manager Pete Mackanin has challenged him to win the Gold Glove this year.

Spring hitting numbers can be misleading, but a lot of Franco’s production the past month has come against a top-three pitcher in opposing rotations. That was Mackanin’s design because in split-squad games, he was often sent to hit against the better opposing pitcher.

The gamble paid off in a more confident Franco against any kind of pitching once the real season started. If his wrist can stay away from the inside pitch and he doesn’t have any more freak injuries, no one will be surprised if he is the starting third baseman in this year’s All-Star game.