Franco learning lessons against tough pitchers

LOS ANGELES - Maikel Franco's rookie season will be full of learning experiences, and this week is certainly no exception. After the series opener Friday night in San Francisco, the Phillies' 22-year-old third baseman will have faced three of baseball's best pitchers - Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Madison Bumgarner - on consecutive nights.

Matchups like these provide invaluable experience for Franco, who, since his May 15 promotion, has been the best hitter on this rebuilding Phillies club. On Wednesday night, when Kershaw dominated baseball's worst team with a shutout, Franco saw the reigning National League MVP attack him in various ways over four at-bats.

"I like to face these guys because at the end of the year you just have that much better [experience]," Franco said Thursday before the series finale against the Dodgers and Greinke, who took the mound riding an incredible 272/3-inning scoreless streak.

"That's what I'm looking for every single time, just try to learn and try to make an adjustment with the pitchers and just try to be ready the next time that I face them."

Franco managed a single in his third at-bat against Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner. The young Dominican also lined out to center field in his first at-bat. But after the sixth-inning single, which came on a first-pitch fastball, Franco saw five consecutive breaking pitches his next time at the plate.

Franco's final at-bat of the night ended with him looking at strike three, a 74-m.p.h. curveball. It was one of Kershaw's season-high 13 strikeouts for the night.

Franco went into Thursday hitting .296 with an .872 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. Although he hadn't homered since June 23, his first eight games of the month saw him hit .303 with five doubles.

"I feel pretty good," he said. "I know it's not going to happen all the time. I'm not every single time going to get two, three hits a day. But I feel pretty good. I've had a couple good at-bats. That's what I'm looking for every single time. I feel pretty good right now and I'm going to continue to do that."

The more they see him, the more pitchers will adjust to Franco. The reigning National League rookie of the month said he has seen more breaking pitches lately, since his two-night RBI binge at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago.

"In New York, I saw a lot of good pitches to hit," he said. "But in the last two weeks, [the pitcher] is making an adjustment with me. He goes back and forth, brings me away and pitches me inside, a couple sliders in the dirt. I've been ready for that.

"But like I said, it's not going to happen every single time. I have to know that, and I have to feel comfortable because I know it's baseball and sometimes you go back and forth. But I feel pretty good, and I'm trying to be ready every single day."

The more experience against the Kershaws, Greinkes, and Bumgarners of the world, the better off Franco will be in the future.

@jakemkaplan