An intriguing player, Nick Franklin was expected to serve as the Tampa Bay Rays super utility player for the 2017 season. He finally had what could have been considered to be a breakthrough performance with the bat, producing a solid .270/.328/.443 batting line with 16 extra base hits and six steals in 191 plate appearances. He had even cut down his strikeout rate from 33.9% in 2015 to 22.0% last year, as it seemed that he had become comfortable in the Majors.
However, Franklin remained a bit of a defensive liability. While he was at least somewhat passable in the outfield, he does not play much at short any longer.