Positive Phillies’ Firepower

Because the critics have unmet expectations for Maikel Franco, they see every hitting mistake as proof of failure. In fact, the third sacker may immediately realize he didn’t follow the ball to his bat and made the adjustment on the next pitch. Improvement? He might be trying to concentrate on every pitch – albeit with partial success – if you look at each AB positively instead of negatively.

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT:   “I’m not thinking home run, I just want to put a good swing on the ball. When you go looking for home runs, you get off of your swing. So you don’t think of homers when you go up to the plate.” – David “Big Papi”  Ortiz"

Franco’s stats:

• Overall: 82 Gms., 314 AB, .220, 13 HR, 45 RBI and a .666 OPS.
• Projection for 162 games: 25 HR and 85 RBI.

Enjoying a comparison to Utley, Kingery isn’t the first phenom to be the next household name. And many haven’t lived up to their trumpeted billing. Meanwhile, Klentak wants to see 400 Triple-A at-bats before he advances Kingery to the Philadelphia Phillies. And although the infielder doesn’t have to be on the 40-man roster until after the 2019 campaign, he could arrive next June. Yes, Aaron Nola’s promotion was in his second season, but the Phils’ need was greater at that time.