Philadelphia Phillies: Demoting Maikel Franco would not be wise
There have been reports that the Philadelphia Phillies are contemplating sending Maikel Franco back to the minors. Here’s why that wouldn’t be a good idea.
Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco broke onto the scene as a 22-year-old in 2015 when he hit .280 with 14 home runs in just 80 games. Now two years later, that promising start has faded away.
After somewhat regressing last season, Franco has fully fallen off two months into the 2017 MLB regular season. Through 47 games, Franco is batting a measly .216 and perhaps more importantly is slugging just .352. Now 24 years old, the Phillies third baseman has been benched a few times over this past week.
However, according to Jim Salisbury of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, time on the bench may not be the worst scenario for the former top Phillies prospect. Salisbury reports that Franco could be sent back down to the minors “if he doesn’t break out of his slump.”
This would be a shocking development for a player that opened up the season as one of the team’s best hitters. But even Phillies manager Pete Mackanin wouldn’t shut down the rumor, instead making a statement that added flame to the fire.
"“We’ve talked about it,” Mackanin said before Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Marlins. “That’s about all I’ll say. It’s been discussed.”"
Considering the way Franco has been performing, it might be nice for the Phillies coaching staff and fans to get a break from seeing their third baseman struggle this way. But with where the team is at the moment, letting him figure out his problems in the big leagues would be the best course of action for this franchise.
Right now, the Phillies have posted the worst record in baseball at 17-34 and there hasn’t been much to cheer about because of the lack of real building blocks currently on the big league roster. Instead, the front office opted to bring in veterans to fill in prominent roles such as Howie Kendrick, Joaquin Benoit, Michael Saunders, Jeremy Hellickson and Clay Buchholz on one-year contracts. However, these players haven’t been the potential trade chips that the Phillies’ decision makers probably expected.
There’s no denying it, the Phillies are in a rebuilding mode and there is talent in the minor league system. Franco is a crucial part of the future because he has performed against major league pitching before. With this being the case, despite his recent struggles the Phillies need to be focused on the future and Franco needs time, like many young players, to find is form against the best pitchers in the world.
Sending Franco back to Triple-A would only stunt his growth. It might give him some short-term confidence, but it will only be a matter of time before the once lauded youngster is back with the Phillies.
Franco is a starting caliber talent that has proven he can handle the challenges of playing every day in the majors. It’s been two years since the third baseman has played in a minor league stadium. Why stunt his growth when your team is already on their way to having another top-five pick in the MLB draft by the end of the year?
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Pretty much every young player goes through a phase where they need to make an adjustment. It wouldn’t be smart for the Phillies to shield Franco from that challenge, especially when the franchise is clearly trying to retool for two or three years from now.
It’s definitely frustrating to watch Franco stumble the way he has. But baseball is a volatile game and the 24-year-old is not the only young player to go through elongated slumps. The only difference is that we’ve seen the raw power and hitting skills from Franco over the past few years.
The Phillies would only stunt the development of their third baseman if they were to send him down to gain some temporary confidence.
Philadelphia is in a unique position where they can allow Franco to stay at the major league level because their team is not competing for a playoff spot. A few off days here and there are fine, but playing every day at the highest level is just what a player who has flashed above average position player performance over the past two seasons needs to get back on track.
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Do you think the Phillies should send Franco back to Triple-A? Should the organization still consider him a building block moving forward? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.