Better late than never, Maikel Franco is back.
The rookie third baseman, out since Aug. 11 with a fractured left wrist, was activated from the disabled list Thursday morning as the Phillies try to fend off 100 losses with four games remaining.
"He feels great and they’ve been sending us video of his at-bats and he looks fine," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said pregame Tuesday. "He’s been swinging the bat with authority and he looks fine."
Franco has been playing Instructional League games in Clearwater and is pain-free. He's not in Thursday's starting lineup for the Phillies' series finale against the Mets at noon. It's unknown if he'll be available to pinch-hit Thursday, but the Phillies plan on playing him this weekend.
"If there’s no issues, if he doesn’t feel pain — obviously we wouldn’t even be having him swing the bat, so there’s obviously no pain — I think it would be good for him to finish up playing the last three games of the season, feeling good leaving here and then going to play some winter ball and be ready for next year," Mackanin said.
Franco was having a Rookie of the Year-caliber season before suffering his broken wrist when he was hit by a pitch in Arizona. The 23-year-old is hitting .277 with 13 homers, 48 RBIs and an .830 OPS in 77 games this season.
Rotation notes
The Phillies announced that Aaron Harang will start Friday and David Buchanan Sunday. Saturday's starter is to be determined.