Phillies’ Maikel Franco has fallen out of Gabe Kapler’s favor for second straight year

Maikel Franco did not leave his chair or even crane his neck Friday afternoon from his locker when Rob Thomson, the Phillies bench coach, slapped the night’s lineup onto one of the pillars inside the team’s clubhouse.

It was another night without Franco’s name on the sheet. And Franco did not have to rush to find out the news. Franco has started just three of the team’s last nine games. He has seemed to become Gabe Kapler’s fourth option at third base behind Sean Rodriguez and Brad Miller or Scott Kingery when he’s not playing center field. Franco is a one-position bench player.

“I’ve been in the same situation. Last year was kind of the same situation,” Franco said. “I just wait for my moment. Try to come in early, do my work, and I know I’ll be confident in myself. I know what I can do in the big leagues. It happens. Right now, I’m not frustrated. I’m not mad.”

The Phillies, for the second-straight June, have seemed to move on from Franco. They tried replacing him last June with J.P. Crawford, but Franco was reinserted two weeks later when Crawford broke his wrist. Returning this season will take more than one freak injury. As a seldom-used bench player, it is hard to see how much value Franco can bring to the Phillies as he’s limited to strictly third base.

“I think when he is performing like Maikel Franco is capable of performing, he's a lot better than that. And right now he is still trying to find his way and we'll look for opportunities to give him an opportunity to get going. Right now we have other guys we are going to see ahead of him,” Kapler said. “The value is directly related to his performance. Maikel Franco has a tremendous amount of value playing to his potential. Right now he's struggling to reach that potential.”

Franco started the season as one of baseball’s hottest hitters as he posted a .844 OPS in April. He was batting eighth and flourishing. But his OPS since - .477 - is the seventh-lowest among all hitters. He’s batting .167 with just two homers in his last 120 at-bats. Franco, nearly three months into the season, played himself out of a starting role. The same problems that sent him to the bench last June, returned him there a year later.

“Everybody has difficult moments in baseball. That’s what’s happening with me right now,” Franco said. “The first month was great. Everything was great. I was doing great. But you’re not going to be great for six months.”

Adam Morgan returned from the injured list, giving the Phillies a needed late-inning option in the bullpen...Tommy Hunter will pitch Sunday in a rehab game with high-A Clearwater and will join the Phillies Monday to be re-evaluated...Adam Haseley will likely begin a rehab assignment on Monday...Vince Velasquez will face Elieser Hernandez on Saturday afternoon.