Phillies

Maikel Franco Has Been Called Up, Does Anyone Give a Shit?

By Kyle Scott

Published: May 15th, 2015 · 10:30 AM EDT

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Todd Zolecki:

The Phillies announced this morning they have recalled Maikel Franco from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Franco is the No. 54 prospect in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. He is expected to be at third base tonight for the Phillies’ series opener against Arizona at Citizens Bank Park.

Franco’s arrival became imminent Monday, when the Phillies optioned third baseman Cody Asche to Triple-A, where is learning to become a left fielder.

54th-best prospect. Cool. Not taking anything away from Franco, who could turn out to be a great player, but his arrival on this putrid Phillies team is about as exciting as late night cable fare after the proliferation of residential broadband. Like, yeah, you’ll leave the channel on for a few extra minutes if you flip by, but it’s not exactly appointment viewing like it would’ve been years ago. And it’s made all the more mehhhhhhh given the Phillies’ inexplicable lack of foresight to, you know, see this coming, which led to their curious decision to send Franco’s mildly-heated corner predecessor, Cody Asche, to Lehigh Valley to learn a new position instead of just letting him do it on the AAA team that plays at One Citizens Bank Way in Philadelphia.