ST. PETERSBURG — Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been benched for no less than two video games for disciplinary causes.
Franco was not within the lineup for the Rays’ sequence opener towards the Royals at Tropicana Field on Thursday evening, coincidentally the two-year anniversary of the previous prime prospect’s Major League debut. He is not going to play Friday evening, both, supervisor Kevin Cash introduced Thursday afternoon.
“Wander is a really good kid, really good person. He’s a young player that is learning and dealing with the challenges of being a Major League player and some of the frustrations that come with it,” Cash mentioned. “Over the course of this season, there’s been probably multiple times that the way he has handled his frustrations have not been the way that we ask our players to uphold being the best teammate.”
The membership will take the following two days to find out when Franco will return to the lineup. He could possibly be again as quickly as Saturday. Cash declined to get into additional specifics relating to the choice, including, “I’d like to leave it at what I said.”
Franco was at Tropicana Field on Thursday however left the ballpark nicely earlier than the sport and didn’t converse to reporters.
The self-discipline handed down by the group on Thursday was not the results of one particular incident, however relatively a sequence of them. While he’s been arguably one of the best place participant within the Majors this season, the 22-year-old star has been extra demonstrative than ever along with his frustrations on the sphere and within the dugout.
“We’re going to continue to support Wander as he works through this. I’m personally going to. This organization will. This staff will,” Cash mentioned. “We know that he’s a really good kid and look forward to having him back.”
There have been instances this season when Franco has not hustled on the bases, as a substitute slamming his bat or carrying it with him to first then persevering with to react angrily within the dugout. In Tuesday evening’s 8-6 loss to the Orioles, for example, he hit a excessive popup with two outs that landed contained in the left-field line for an RBI hit — however he solely reached first base.
Franco has made it extra apparent this season when he disagrees with known as strikes. He obtained right into a heated argument within the dugout final month with teammate Randy Arozarena. He made two errors on a key play within the third inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Padres, permitting two runs to attain, and declined to talk to the media afterward.
There can also be sure to be extra scrutiny on Franco, given his fame in baseball circles since he was a younger teenager, his former prime prospect standing and the $182 million contract extension he signed with the Rays in November 2021. Even his now-famous “ball flip” at shortstop earlier this season sparked a major quantity of dialog, with Cash appreciating the play the following day by noting he “can’t relate to the amount of confidence that Wander plays with. It’s pretty special.”
Franco’s 3.8 WAR (per Baseball Reference) ranks second amongst all Major League hitters, behind solely Angels two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani. The Rays’ switch-hitter has bounced again from an injury-riddled 2022 marketing campaign to hit .287/.349/.455 with eight house runs, 34 RBIs and 24 steals whereas being tied for first amongst all infielders with 10 outs above common for the best-in-baseball Rays.
With Franco benched, slick-fielding Taylor Walls obtained the beginning at shortstop on Thursday and Vidal Bruján was slotted in because the beginning second baseman.
Content Source: www.mlb.com