Phillies lose standout rookie Maikel Franco to wrist fracture

The one player the Phillies could not afford to lose from their lineup is potentially out for the season. While he won’t need surgery, it’s an injury that can take a month, possibly longer, to fully heal. Franco will wear a splint for the next two to three weeks before being re-evaluated, according to Amaro.

In 77 games for the Phillies, he batted.

Franco was hit by a pitch on his left wrist last Tuesday at Arizona.

“We’re going to be cautious with him”, Amaro said. “We have to be as cautious as we can, he’s too important to us”. “We’ll see what’s going to happen”.

Altherr, 24, was a ninth-round draft choice of the Phils in 2009.

“It’s a big blow”, Amaro said. “(Altherr) played in winter ball in not an easy situation in Venezuela and played very, very well. “So I think he’s going to be fine over there for the time being”.

That’s just the Phillies luck, though, because in a wretched season, having a rookie of the year would have been a nice consolation trophy. “He’s an outstanding defender”. 319 and added 10 more homers in the final 155 or so plate appearances of the season – and he would have gotten at least that many chances – it would have been hard to vote against him at the end of the season.

The Phillies initially had hoped that Franco would avoid a DL stint after preliminary X-rays were negative.

Philadelphia has turned to Cesar Hernandez and Andres Blanco as the fill-ins at third base and Franco’s fantastic rookie season is on hold after he hit.

Mackanin played Hernandez at third against the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday, batting second. In seven minor-league seasons, he hit a combined.261. Franco’s 13 home runs were fourth among NL rookies and his 22 doubles ranked third.

So when Franco and the Phillies returned home on Sunday night, after he missed four straight games, they decided to seek a second opinion. “If it looks like it’s affecting his approach offensively then we might make an adjustment”.