Major League Baseball already has in the Dominican slugger Wander Franco the new young promise who made his professional debut and his debut in the best baseball in the world made it a spectacle full of magic and history.
Although his Tampa Bay Rays team couldn’t avoid a 9-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox, in 11 innings, the 20-year-old Franco, who had been called up from the minor leagues, immediately displayed his qualities as a A born slugger hitting a three-run homer, double and made a great defense with a double hit.
Franco, considered the best promise in the minor leagues, connected in the fifth inning against Venezuelan starter Eduardo Rodríguez and achieved his first homers in the majors, then added, in the seventh, a double and finished the game with two hits in four at-bats, in addition to receiving a walk.
Did not disappoint
The young slugger did not disappoint with the expectations created around his figure and was 4-2 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while receiving all the support of an attendance of 12,994 fans who went to witness the game at Tropicana Field, in St. .Petersburg (Florida) and cheered him louder than usual from the moment Franco came out of the cave for his warm-up exercises.
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Then the historic chapter would come with the handling of the bat and the satisfaction of not having failed the Rays fans.
“I felt like they were giving me a lot of support,” the Rays’ switch hitter said. “A lot of people came to see how I play. God sent me a surprise ”.
Franco also expressed his feeling that he was going to make contact with the ball that Rodríguez sent him because it was the one he really expected to do so.
“I knew that that turn I was going to be able to hit a home run,” Franco said. “That was the pitching I was looking for for that very thing.”
Visibly excited after his homerun, Franco hit his chest several times before reaching first base and then raised his right arm in victory.
Madness at Tropicana Field
The delirium of the Rays fans was general throughout the stadium that they had to leave the dugout to greet the public after touring the bases.
In addition, he also contributed brilliance and security in the defensive game with the glove.
When fellow Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers ran from second to third on a Hunter Renfroe ground with one out in the eighth inning, Franco – a natural shortstop playing third basement – touched Devers to put him out and then made a precise shot to first base to catch Renfroe.
His actions at no time showed that the young 20-year-old player felt nervous and had to hide it very well.
“I’ve been playing baseball like this with a lot of pressure since I was little and I know how to control that,” recalled the Baní native. “I feel secure in everything I do.”
At his age of 20 years and 113 days, Franco is the eighth youngest player to hit a home run in his first game in the majors since at least 1901 and the youngest to do so since Jurickson Profar from Curaçao (19 years, 195 days) in 2012.
His bat production left Franco the youngest player since at least 1901 to hit two extra-base hits, including a home run, scoring at least two runs and driving in at least three in his first game, beating Joey Gallo (21 years, 195 days).
EFE
