TAMPA BAY- There was a new bat in the Tampa Bay Rays’ lineup on Tuesday night.
But there was no need for an introduction.
Tampa Bay lost in extra-innings to the Boston Red Sox 9-4, the team’s seventh straight loss, but for many fans, it was a win. The price of admission was well worth it to see a future Hall of Famer.
Well...more like a 20-year-old making his MLB debut who is destined for Cooperstown.
Wander Franco had long been hyped as the Rays’ future franchise star, as the young third baseman ascended the minor league ladder with relative ease, ranked at the No. 1 prospect in the minors entering this season. He is the son of Wander Franco, who played minor league ball in the 90’s, the brother of Wander Franco, and yes, Wander Franco, who currently play in the minor league systems of San Francisco and Houston. But he is the first by the name of Wander Franco to have ever reached the highest stage of baseball, when he made his MLB debut Tuesday.
And he did not waste long in giving the home crowd what it had come to see.
He reached base on a walk in the first inning.
“Ok, he’s got a great eye at the plate,” you could almost hear the Tampa fans say, “but where’s the power we’ve been hearing about?”
Franco gave them their answer just four innings later. In the fifth, with Kevin Kiermaierand Yandy Diaz on base, the Dominican “saw the pitch he was looking for”, and drove it into the outfield seats of Tropicana Field, a 362-foot blast that ignited the home crowd, and tied the score at five. It also made him the youngest third baseman in MLB history to homer in his debut, as he also became the first big-leaguer born in 2001.
"In that at-bat I actually knew I was going to hit a home run because that was the pitch I was looking for,'' Franco said through an interpreter according to a report from ESPN. "I ended up getting the pitch that I was looking for and I was able to help the team out.''
He did not stop there.
In the seventh, he pulled a pitch to right field, doubling off the wall with two outs.
For a 20-year-old to handle the pressure put on him by the fans, the media, and even the Tampa Bay front office, Franco is a remarkable player. He rose to the occasion and finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI. Not a bad way to kick off your major league career.
Franco left Triple-A Durham earlier in the day, and he won’t be going back.
Whether he does turn out to be the kind of player that can single-handedly drive Tampa into the postseason for the third straight year or not remains to be seen, but there is no denying that he plays with a level of energy on the diamond that rivals that of Javier Baez, Fransisco Lindor and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Even Red Sox manager Alex Cora took a second to comment on Franco’s impressive play through spring training and on Tuesday night.
"What a good player he is,'' he said. "The way he controls the at-bat for how young he is. They have a special one.''
Not to mention he can play second base and shortstop, adding to his versatility which will keep him in the lineup on a daily basis.
"I want to give 100 percent of what I've got and just continue with the work I've been doing in hopes that it turns me into a superstar," Franco said pregame.
It may take a couple weeks, maybe a month, for the entire MLB community to recognize Franco as a legitimate candidate for AL Rookie of the Year. After all, he has just four big-league at-bats.
But he is already a superstar in Tampa.
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