With ‘a little bit of chip on his shoulder,’ Royals’ Maikel Franco seizes fresh start
Beyond altering an appearance, it turns out that having dreadlocks chopped off also changes a more elementary matter: helmet size.
In the case of Maikel (pronounced my-kell) Franco, he went from an 8 last year with the Phillies to 7 1/8 now with the Royals.
Which perhaps makes for an apt metaphor about diminished hat size, the old cliche for ego.
Franco was Baseball America’s 17th-rated prospect in 2013 and then from 2015-18 averaged 21 home runs and 70 RBIs per season before fading from favor last season in Philly and being let loose to free agency.
Not that Franco had a swollen head. But one way or another, he was humbled.
More to the point, though, he was spurred by the spurning.
And his craving for a fresh start extends far deeper than the cosmetics of changing his distinct look, symbolic as that might be.
New Royals manager Mike Matheny could feel that even over the phone in December when he called the third baseman in the Dominican Republic shortly after he signed a one-year, $2.95 million deal (with up to an additional $1.05 million in performance bonuses) that the Royals can extend through 2021 with salary arbitration.
“I heard it in his voice … ‘I want to show everybody what I can do; I’m better than what I’ve been doing,’ ” said Matheny, who suggested Franco has a “little bit of chip on his shoulder.”
Anyone can talk the talk, of course. But Matheny has observed his urgency about doing “the work to support it” about ever since.
That included when he visited Franco in Miami during the off-season and witnessed his commitment to diet and conditioning and “how he’s going about his work.”
That’s also a telling snapshot in itself about Matheny’s initial efforts to develop and galvanize, which in this case included pleasing Franco with his willingness to try to speak Spanish.
“He wants you to get better every single day,” said Franco, who arrived at spring training weeks early and is among the first at the training complex every day. “He’s got good communications. He respects me. I respect him, and that’s a great thing. …
“Those managers like that, it’s a beautiful thing. And I’m so excited, man.”
Befitting a man intent on looking to the present and forward instead of back, Franco has scant interest in dwelling on last season beyond saying, “Forget that year; this year is a new year for me.”
Suffice to say, he started 2019 well enough only to struggle to put up the numbers he had established the years before. He was demoted to Triple A in August and stranded on the bench much of September.
As deftly summarized by Star beat writer Lynn Worthy:
“While many of his metrics hadn’t changed significantly from earlier seasons (strikeout percentage, barrel percentage, exit velocity, hard hit percentage), it appeared he fell victim to bad luck. … His ground ball percentage — he’d hovered between 44% and 50% in the majors — also worked against him with a Phillies regime that’s a proponent of launch angle.”
When he became expendable, the Royals pounced. They viewed the 27-year-old as a high-upside, low-risk investment with the potential to be part of their core going forward.
Not to mention the intangible of being hungry as he enters his prime.
Their sense of all that was informed in part by an experience of Rene Francisco, the Royals assistant general manager for major league and international operations. As the general manager of Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Professional Baseball League, Francisco had witnessed his considerable pop first-hand playing winter ball for the Gigantes.
That doesn’t just leave a player, they reasoned.
“We all need a fresh start once in a while to kind of reset a little bit,” said Moore.
Noting that virtually all go through ups and downs and that every context is different, he added, “You can make a case that if (former Royals third baseman) Mike Moustakas went through what he went through in another place, maybe a larger market or where the expectations were (more immediate), they may have non-tendered him.”
So here he is with the Royals, going 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs Monday night against the Diamondbacks as he continues to gain traction in his next chapter.
“I’m starting to see the ball really good, starting to get my rhythm and timing back,” he said.
Part of how successfully that proceeds will be about acclimating to a new league and new pitchers. But for the moment, it’s all about melding into his new organization, which he’s found welcoming at every level.
For that matter, Franco has tried to engage at every level, too. While he’s perhaps most in his comfort zone among his Spanish-speaking teammates, he has made it a point to learn English and can engage across the room despite speaking only Spanish until he signed with the Phillies.
“Don’t be afraid to say, ‘Hey, man, how you doing? How’s your family going?’ ” said Franco, who said he learned the language mostly through watching television and trying to listen. “After that, the conversations keep going.”
Just like he’s started a fresh conversation about his career trajectory.
“When you have a talented player who’s highly motivated like that, it’s a great foundation,” said Matheny, noting what might be considered a parallel appreciation of his new beginning. “A lot of people fall into that category. You get wakeup calls in life, too, … (a) ‘I can’t let that happen again’ kind of thing.”
So far, so good — new haircut and and helmet size and beyond.
“I feel,” he said, “totally different right now.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.