MIAMI – Maikel Franco’s sore right wrist had not improved when he showed up to work Tuesday. He will likely head back to Philadelphia to be seen by a specialist on Wednesday.
Franco has been out of the Phillies' starting lineup four of the last five days. He had an X-ray on Sunday. It was negative. He will likely have an MRI in Philadelphia.
On a scale of 1 to 10, Franco said the pain was “6 or 7 when I squeeze bat and hit the ball.”
Franco has an area of swelling, a noticeable knot, where the back of his hand meets his wrist. He suffered the injury when he was jammed by a pitch last weekend in Toronto. He tried to play through it, but the pain became too much.
With Franco out, the Phillies are using Asbrubal Cabrera at third and Scott Kingery at shortstop. That gives the Phils a better defensive combination on the left side of the infield, but they do miss Franco’s bat. From June 23 to August 23, a span of 53 games, he hit .323 with 12 homers, 28 RBIs and a .942 OPS. He raised his batting average from .240 to .279 over that span.
To increase their infield depth, the Phillies recalled J.P. Crawford from Triple A before Tuesday night’s game against Miami.