Maikel Franco started this year as one of the key cogs in a thriving Phillies lineup, getting dubbed “the best No. 8 hitter in baseball.” After that hot start, he has fallen hard and now finds himself out of the starting lineup entirely.
Out of 20 games in June, Franco has started just nine of them. In this time, the team has turned to Scott Kingery, Sean Rodriguez, and Brad Miller as better options to start at the hot corner than Franco. The fact that Franco finds himself behind Rodriguez and Miller should be an indictment on its own.