Phillies Promote Maikel Franco to Reading

Franco, Maikel

News just breaking that the Phillies are moving Franco up to AA.  It has been a real breakout year for Franco with him showing more opposite field approach without sacrificing any of his game.  His strikeout rate has dropped and there have been more positive opinions on his defense.  There wasn’t a 3B to block him in AA so it is an easy decision.

This may be the first of many promotions or a single promotion, we will see over the coming days.

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About Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from Mt. Holly, NJ, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has previously appeared on Phuture Phillies and The Good Phight. You can read his work at Phillies Minor Thoughts

84 thoughts on “Phillies Promote Maikel Franco to Reading”

    1. Probably right around #5 depending on graduations (everyone at current positions). Behind Sano, Cecchini, Bryant, and Moran at this moment. (Olt could make a charge, Rendon could go back down, Gallo could learn how to not miss, or Cowart could capitalize on scouting reports)

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      2. I’m not sure if I put him behind Bryant and Moran… then again, I don’t put any 2013 draftee’s in the top 100 until they’ve started performing in pro ball… flame out risk is far too high.

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        1. Bryant has huge power, probably in an OF corner. Moran has a big time hit tool. Both guys could start in AA immediately (probably won’t). Those guys have big time talent which is why they were picked where they are. There is also a big flameout rate for prospects in AA, would say the new guys are that much more risky

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          1. I think we disagree about the flame out rates here… then again, I don’t really have any statistics to prove it nor any way to actually look them up. But I’d be very curious if anyone knows the difference in flame-out rates of top 100 prospects playing for the first time (aka in their draft year) vs those at AA having been drafted out of high school. I guess I feel like the value of those 1500 AB’s in pro ball grants a much high likelihood of success for those HS guys, vs college guys coming in for the first time.

            I think another related question here is, how does the talent at big time college programs compare to A+ or AA? (This should really answer a lot of this question). I seem to remember PP discussing this at length years ago but no longer recall and can’t seem to find it anymore.

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    2. Olt and Castellanos aren’t even playing third anymore. Rendon and Arenado are already in the majors. Davidson is a butcher at third, but can hit. I’d put Franco above Cowart. Probably 4th behind Bryant, Peterson and Davidson.

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    3. I dont know what this is. Its pretty much a dog shit list. Cox? What is this 2009? Piscotty doesnt even play 3b anymore.

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  3. this is great news. Hopefully, he is the age they list him at and he continues to progress. It really seems he has made giant strides this year and the sky is the limit.

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  4. Franco will be the third 20 year-old position player in the Eastern League this year. One (Bogaerts) has already been promoted to AAA. So that’s nice.

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  6. Also of note, I read his signing date of January 2010 and assume he has one more year before he even needs to be protected, as he signed after the 2009 seasons were complete. So he could spend the whole 2014 in AA/AAA and not burn an option. Not that a guy with this much promise should need options, but Dom Brown needed 2, so there’s no good excuse to burn one on a (presumed but not certain) non-contender that should be trying to assess Cody Asche at the big league level in 2014, IMO.

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      1. I could see them trading Michael Young for a bag of chips for Ryan Howard and moving Asche up in about a month.

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        1. Early on Asche was having trouble with left handers. He seems to be doing better. Young is a DH nothing more.

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  7. Nice for Franco. Let’s see how the breakin’ period is. So does Harold Martinez get some more reps at 3B or do you double jump Zach Green after 2 games? Okay, calm down, I was just joking about that last part… or maybe both parts.

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    1. Honestly, the real conversation should be whether Franco can handle the move to LF with Green’s emergence.

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      2. Throw Mitch Walding in there…..force feed him at Clearwater, see what he can do. He can always repeat it again next year and still be age-appro.

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  9. Sweet! Congrats to Franco! So what does he need to do in AA for it to be considered a success? .260/.320/.400? 5 HR?

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      1. Yeah anything under a .750 OPS is going to be bad but not insurmountable. Something like his Lakewood line should be what we aim for though and anything more would be exciting

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    2. I’d expect him to at least stay on pace for HR and 2B in Reading … Asche’s XBH increased exponentially when he made the jump to the Eastern League last season.

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      1. Asche bats from the left side, which hurts him more in Clearwater than it did in Reading.
        Franco bats from the right side, so we shouldn’t expect as big of an effect.

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        1. This is true, but Reading is a better all-around hitters park, particularly for HR hitters. Asche doubled his HR production from Clearwater to Reading. I’m not expecting Franco’s to surge even more, but I think the league and park would allow him to continue his current pace.

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    3. You all are way underselling what this guy is likely to do.

      I expect something like 275/340/560 – batting average will be lower, walk rate will be lower, doubles will be lower, but he’ll hit a ton of home runs and his slugging will be very high. I don’t think his overall OPS budges at AA.

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      1. I don’t know I just think that is too optimistic. It’s entirely possible he does that but this jump will be a challenge and we shouldn’t expect him to be that good and if he isn’t that we should be disappointed. I’ll be happy with his Lakewood line from last year. I think it’s very possible that he does what you say but I’m not going to expect that from him.

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        1. I won’t really be diappointed if he doesn’t do that well, but, frankly, I expect him to clean up at AA. I have very little idea of what to expect when he hits AAA – he could easily be stuck at AAA for an entire year – we just won’t know until he gets there.

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    4. This is funny. Deja vu.
      I recall last year, when Cesar Hernandez ripped up AA, and he was promoted, everyone had him in the top 10 prospects. Then he moves to a higher level at a young age, and suddenly he isn’t worthy of top 20, because he had the nerve to struggle at the higher level. I wonder what happens to Franco’s consensus #2 status, when and if he struggles at AA?

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      1. It happens all the time. A good portion of folks are just too invested in the success of these minor leaguers and extremely reactionary to boot. I am in no way saying i am immune and it happens with everyone. Ruf, Rizz, Asche, i mean oick a prospect and watch how hot/cold the love is based on stats. Asche i think had the biggest changes from walking on water in A+, being a total bust in his first month in AA, then finishing in top 5 of prospect list in last half of AA.

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    1. Good point! It messes up the whole lineup. Do you move Altherr to #4 and move Alonso to #2? If Perkins is due back, he has to find a home. Perkins is a good #5. Who will become the slugger in the lineup? It’s nice to have 4 or 5 guys who can hit the ball at the top of the lineup but it’s better to have a guy at #4 who can clear the bases regularly.

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  12. Can anyone tell me when Biddle is slated to pitch next? With Utley rehabing, and Franco now in Reading i may stop up this week.

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        1. reading more compelling. Miami is going to win by 50. no way SAS win, or can come back from that. They seem too old.,

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  13. Crazy how Franco has almost doubled his ISO this season while actually lowering his strikeout rate.

    Will Franco be in the lineup for tonight’s game?

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    1. Phillies are due for california bat to actually pan out. I think Dugan gets promoted by end of month.

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  16. Great- I arrive in Clearwater on Monday and miss Franco (the one I was most looking forward to seeing). Hope JP Crawford helps fill the void on my vacation.

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    2. Sorry dude….but saw a picture of JP Crawford with a Lakewood jersey on…the Phillies must have already triple-jumped him one day after the signing. 🙂

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  17. Browsing through the Phillies official website and checked out their top twenty prospects page. Man are they goofy. Franco is #10 and rated behind, among others, the following: Roman Quinn, Larry Greene Jr., and Valle. Just blows me away.

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    1. The mlb.com rankings are weird to begin with, but remember they give the illusion of being dynamic while being updated like once or twice a year.

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    2. Jon Mayo is an enigma at times in his evals and rating of prospects. Most times, however, he is pretty close.

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      1. Crashburn alley did an interview with him when the preseason lists went up, on how he makes his list. Basically his personal opinions barely factor in, working for MLB.com he has a lot of access to front office personal from every team so he interviews them about their own prospects and about other teams prospects and makes the lists based on that.

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  18. •Third-round pick Jan Hernandez has signed with the Phillies for $550K, tweets Callis. The Phils saved $43K in signing the Puerto Rican high school shortstop. Callis notes that Hernandez is probably a future third baseman or catcher who has some pop and a chance to hit for average. catcher I cant believe that one

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    1. Why not? Chooch wasn’t a catcher until he signed a pro contract. Neither was Mike Piazza (at least I don’t think he was).

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      1. I know about chooch, but thought this kid was a great fielding shortstop, that all, just suprised by the catcher quote.

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        1. One of the best DEFENSIVE catchers in baseball with a few Gold Gloves, was a Phillies third baseman in the minors….Bob Boone.

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    2. Would seem odd to move him to C given that the Phillies also drafted Knapp and Sweaney in addition to the depth they already have.
      I think switching positions, especially a move to C, would be more likely for lower drafted players who have less upside/profile.

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  19. If you are not watching Franco with Biddle at milb.com, shame on you. First out was a nice barehand grab by Franco.

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  20. FWIW, from Matt Eddy’s BA Hot Sheet Chat:

    Danny (Philly): Hey Matt thanks for the chat. Can we get a little Philly love? Wats the general consensus on Maikel Franco and how high has he vaulted up the prospect lists?
    Matt Eddy: We ran a cool feature on Phillies 3B Maikel Franco last week, in case you missed it. As long as he continues to produce power with a swing that isn’t exactly textbook, then he’s going to rank among the best 3B prospects in the game. I think his new straightaway hitting approach will serve him well. I’m cautiously optimistic about his development.

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