Maikel Franco, Philadelphia Phillies
Franco is another roller-coaster case when it comes to explaining his big-league career. And even after posting a 105 wRC+ and 1.5 fWAR last year, Philadelphia still wanted to sign Manny Machado as a free agent before he chose the San Diego Padres.
Even as it currently stands, Franco is back in Triple-A, with Scott Kingery taking over the hot corner for the time being. That’s because the 27-year-old has slashed just .233/.299/.407 through 375 plate appearances, resulting in a 70 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR. Those are on track to be his worst numbers since 2017, when his wRC+ (76) and fWAR (-0.4) looked awfully similar to his present production.
Franco has managed to limit his strikeouts (13.3% rate in ’19, 15.2% for his career), but he’s not taking advantage of the balls he puts in play. His 33.6% hard-hit rate is actually on pace to be a career high because he’s hasn’t been able to keep his soft-hit rate down. It’s never been below 20.0% in a single MLB season, with the last three years coming in at 20.8%, 28.3%, and 23.3%.
And while his 39.7% fly-ball rate is on the rise, so is his infield-fly rate. That number has increased over the past three years, going from 16.3% to 19.0% to his current number of 23.3%.
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