Skip to main content

Franco making case for September call up

By
Maikel Franco, image- Jay Floyd
While the minor league season begins to wind down, Lehigh Valley third baseman Maikel Franco continues to go full throttle.

As the IronPigs kicked off their final home stand of the season on Saturday with a double header against the division rival Syracuse Chiefs, Franco, who is hoping his season continues on beyond the final day on the regular season calendar, which is Labor Day, September 1st, continued to display his improved offensive efforts going 6-for-7 with two home runs combined in two games while recording a cycle in the night cap.

The feat was certainly quite an achievement, but possibly more impressive because it was accomplished in just six offensive innings for the winning home club in game 2, as minor league double headers are slated as seven-inning contests.

Franco, who turns 22 years old this week, struggled through the early part of his first Triple-A season, ending June with a .202 batting average and just 28 extra-base hits in 78 contests. In 46 games since the start of July, the Dominican born slugger has tallied a .326 batting average while mashing 26 extra-base hits, including nine of his season total of 14 homers during that stretch.

Entering the 2014 season, Franco was ranked as PhilliesNation's top prospect after posting a.320 average with 31 home runs and 103 RBI in 134 combined games with Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

Franco's big night marked the second time in team history that an IronPig hit for the cycle. The previous player to accomplish the remarkable achievement was outfielder Michael Taylor in 2009.

When major league rosters expand in September, the Phillies will be burdened to not find a way to include the blossoming youngster in the list of names they call to join the big club for the final four weeks or the season.

Also hot-

Lakewood first baseman/catcher/designated hitter Willians Astudillo went 2-for-4 in the BlueClaws' loss at home on Saturday. This marked the sixth straight game and the eighth time in the last nine games that the 22-year-old Venezuelan recorded more than one safety. Astudillo, who was an All-Star this season, leads the Class A South Atlantic League in batting with a .339 average.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rappers in Phillies Caps

By
Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...
3 comments
Read more

Patreon Exclusive: Logan O'Hoppe answers Nine Silly-ass Questions

By
Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early.  When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more.  Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one.  That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...
Post a Comment
Read more