The Tampa Bay Rays recently called up Wander Franco, who’s been the consensus top prospect in baseball over the last two years. Franco made his MLB debut on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox and put on a show.
In Franco’s first plate appearance, he fell behind in the count 0-2. And he turned that into a walk.
Franco stepped to the plate again in the bottom of the fifth inning, and this time he showed off the power. The 20-year-old went down and got an offspeed pitch below the zone, and crushed it over the left field wall for a game-tying three-run homer.
And the next time up, Franco smoked a double:
Franco is even putting his defense on display:
He’s the real deal, and again- he’s just 20 years old. He’s the first player in the majors to be born in 2001.
The Rays entered this game 43-30, but they have a six-game losing streak. They needed a spark, so being able to call up a generational prospect is always a nice way to do that.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.