Wander Franco homers in return to Rays after two-day benching
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla, (AP) — Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco homered in his first at-bat Saturday and added an RBI single one inning later after the Rays benched him for 2 video games in response to his dealing with of irritating conditions this season.
Franco was second within the batting order for Saturday’s sport towards the Kanas City Royals and homered on a 2-1 cutter from Jordan Lyles, a 417-foot drive to heart. He put the Rays forward 3-0 on his 103.8 mph single to heart throughout the second inning.
“Big home run, big base hit up the middle,” Rays supervisor Kevin Cash mentioned after a 9-4 loss. “There’s no denying he’s a really good player, and he really makes our team, a good team that much better.”
After being despatched residence Thursday, the primary of the 2 video games he didn’t play, Franco was in uniform and within the dugout for Friday night time’s sport.
“It’s been hard, really hard, not being with the team,” the 22-year-old mentioned via a translator. “I’m happy to be back. It’s been difficult.”
Cash has declined to debate particular incidents. Franco has at occasions not run out grounders. After an at-bat on Wednesday, he shattered his bat on the dugout bench.
“I think they’re doing a good job in the way they’ve controlled the situation,” Franco mentioned. “I’ve been with this organization a long time, and I think they’ve controlled the situation well with the errors that I’ve made.”
“Be better to control my emotions, and just find a way to help the team,” France added. “I’ve just got to be able to control the situations because I know they’re my problem. I’m just here to play baseball and I’ve got to control my emotions.”
Franco is hitting .290 with 9 homers, 36 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. He is within the second season of a $182 million, 11-year contract.
“It’s not a flip of a switch,” Cash mentioned. “We’re going to support him. Wander’s going to put good work in, confident in that. And this will take shape over the course probably of our season.”
Franco has reached out to various folks, together with Rays pitcher Zach Eflin.
“Kind of explained that everybody’s on his side,” Eflin mentioned. “Everybody cares about him, everybody loves him. I’m not going to give up on him, nobody’s going to give up on him.”
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