Wander Franco knows he was destined to make history

After his second season as a professional, the Dominican Wander Franco decided to get a tattoo. He was coming from rapidly rising through two minor league tiers, clearly establishing himself as the best prospect in all of baseball with almost no experience beyond Class-A. Just over a year before his long-awaited Major League debut With the Tampa Bay Rays, Franco got the MLB logo tattooed on the left side of his neck

At 18 years of age, Franco knew exactly where he was going. Now, two months after making his Big Top debut, the 20-year-old Rays shortstop says, “I feel like a major leaguer.” “I feel pretty good. I feel very proud ”, declared Franco. “I’m here trying to fulfill my dream and I think I’m doing well.”

Franco has earned the right to feel that way. The Baní native is no longer a “prospect,” having graduated from the top spot on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list. He is showing the prowess of a veteran player, so much so that he has impressed his teammates and coaches with his energy and mature focus on the batter’s box.

Franco entered Friday on a 26-game streak on base, the longest active streak by a player 20 years of age or younger since MLB’s expansion era (since 1961). The Dominican is tied with Al Kaline for the fourth-longest string of on-base matches in American League history by a player under the age of 21.

The only longest streaks belong to Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle (one of 36 games from 1951 to 1952, another of 28 in 1952) and Kaline (27, from 1954 to 1955).

Just over two months after his debut on June 22, Franco has 2.3 WAR (according to Baseball Reference), the sixth-best mark on a Rays team that holds the best record in the American League. The switch hitter has offensive numbers of .274 / .333 / .457 with a 124 OPS +, six home runs, 12 doubles and three triples.

He has scored 38 runs and RBIs 29. He has managed to hit a 103.1 fastball from Cuban closer Aroldis Chapman and homered an 11-pitch shift on his first trip to Fenway Park, a sign that he does not shrink in situations of pressure.

Let’s not forget that he is barely 20 years old! As his partner Brett Phillips put it, with that trademark smile, “He’s still a youngster! He’s not even old enough to have a drink legally! “

Adam Berry/MLB.com

Gabriel Delgado

I started as a rookie on Al Bat in early 2018 and I am going into my third season covering Major League Baseball as a web reporter. I am a fan of the San Francisco Giants, a number one defender of Barry Bonds and a critic of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña are the future of baseball, Mike Trout is overrated, and the Astros deserved to be taken away from the World Series for cheating. Besides baseball, I also enjoy soccer, football, basketball, and just about any other game that includes a ball or a ball. I am also an amateur musician, penniless gamer and very nerdy. Graduated in journalism from the University of Guadalajara, I graduated in 2017. Born in the shrimp capital of the world, Escuinapa, Sinaloa. I lived in Australia for a while; i survived giant spiders, tasmanian devils and fought a kangaroo and didn’t die trying.

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