The Philadelphia Phillies will continue their rebuilding period with the promotion of one of their top prospects on Friday. The MLB is getting younger by the day.
Third baseman Maikel Franco will get the call from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and he's expected to start on Friday night, according to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly. General manager Ruben Amaro told Salisbury the Phillies "believe he is ready for the next step."
The 22-year-old Franco started the season at Triple-A for the second consecutive year and he was batting .355/.384/.539 with 15 runs scored, 4 home runs and 24 RBIs in 33 games before the promotion.
Such a move was expected earlier this week when the Phillies demoted third baseman Cody Asche to Triple-A so he could get reps in left field, which is where the team plans to move him. Asche logged 28 games at the hot corner for Philadelphia this season, but he recently fell into an offensive slump and dropped his stat line to .245/.283/.349 with five runs scored, two home runs and four RBIs.
Franco is the No. 3 prospect in the Phillies' organization, according to Baseball America, and it's been speculated for quite some time he would be getting the call in 2015. Although Philadelphia gained an extra year of club control over Franco by waiting until today to promote him, Amaro insisted that was not the team's reasoning behind the move.
"This was a baseball decision based on Maikel's development and performance," he told Salisbury.
The team has yet to announce a corresponding move to make room for Franco, but one is expected soon.
Philadelphia (13-23) will open up a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (15-18) tonight and Franco will get his first MLB action against right-hander Chase Anderson. Tonight's game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET in Philadelphia.
Franco is regarded as the top hitting prospect in the Phillies' organization and fans will get their first look at him tonight.
