CLEARWATER, Fla. – Pete Mackanin assembled what will probably end up being his opening day lineup for Saturday's spring home opener against the Yankees.
He liked what he saw.
Especially from cleanup man Maikel Franco.
Franco's big challenge in becoming a more complete player is to improve his selectivity at the plate. The 24-year-old third baseman looked pretty good in that area in three at-bats.
Franco fell behind 0-2 in his first at-bat then battled back to a full count before popping out in the second inning.
He smacked a homer to left on a 2-2 slider in the fourth and then in the sixth, he stroked a first-pitch gapper to left-center that went for an inside-the-park homer. The ball got stuck under the padding on the outfield wall and the umpire did not rule it a ground-rule double.
"Hey, you see my speed?" the not-so-fleet-footed Franco said with a laugh after coming out of the game. "It's like Cesar's (Hernandez) speed."
Mackanin liked the totality of Franco's at-bats, not just the results.
"He had two long, deep-count at-bats," Mackanin said. "He worked the count deep and that was good to see."
There are many miles to go before opening day, and Franco still has many miles to cover before he's the complete player he wants to be and the selective hitter the front office wants to build around.
Franco vowed to keep working on it under new hitting coach Matt Stairs.
"He told me my focus should be when I stay to the middle of the field, I'll have a lot of success," Franco said. "I am trying to work on it and put focus on it. I talked to (Howie) Kendrick about hitting and he's helped me. I'm going to stay on it every single day. I'm trying to do my job, trying to do the best I can.
"When I stay in the middle, when I try to hit the ball up the middle, something is going to happen. That's what I want to do, what I want to keep doing."
Franco hit .255 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs last season, but his on-base percentage was just .306.
He was asked whether he had any personal goals for the season.
"The first thing is to try to be healthy," he said. "I just want to play in 162 games. Other than that, I'll just do everything I can do.
"Every single day I want to do my best and not try to force the situation. I think I can do better than last year. This year should be very good and much better than last year."
The game
The Phillies won it, 6-5, on a walk-off RBI single by Brock Stassi in the bottom of the ninth inning. The hit scored Rhys Hoskins, who had doubled. Hoskins drove a homer to deep center earlier in the game.
Hoskins, who turns 24 in March, has 55 homers and 206 RBIs the last two seasons. He will move to Triple A this season and play first base.
Stassi is a candidate to win a job on the bench (see story). He hasn't hurt himself in the first two games. He homered Friday and had the game-winning hit Saturday.
"I'm feeling pretty good early on," he said. "Gotta keep it going."
Pitching in
Adam Morgan pitched two scoreless innings. Prospect Ricardo Pinto pitched a scoreless inning. It's not out of the question that he transition to the bullpen at some point this season.
Mark Appel showed his big stuff with three strikeouts in two innings of work, but his control problems also surfaced as he threw a wild pitch that resulted in two runs.
Up next
Probable opening day starter Jeremy Hellickson makes his spring debut Sunday against the Blue Jays in Dunedin.
Here is the Phillies' posted lineup for that game:
1. Cameron Perkins CF
2. J.P. Crawford SS
3. Daniel Nava LF
4. Cameron Rupp DH
5. Andres Blanco 2B
6. Dylan Cozens RF
7. Ryan Hanigan C
8. Brock Stassi 1B
9. Taylor Featherston 3B
Right-hander Joe Biagini will start for Toronto.
Jerad Eickhoff will start for the Phillies against Tampa Bay on Monday. Clay Buchholz will start against Baltimore on Tuesday. Both of those games are in Clearwater.
Phillies 6, Yankees 5: Maikel Franco, Rhys Hoskins, Brock Stassi Shine With Bats
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