Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been benched through at least Friday's game because of the way he handles frustration, manager Kevin Cash told reporters Thursday. They also want him to focus on being a better teammate. Cash stressed Franco is a "good kid and good person," and they will work with him to get better.
Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that a number of incidents have led to the decision. To wit, Franco has had verbal run-ins with "multiple" teammates, including a heated dugout exchange with Randy Arozarena in late May. As well, he's failed to run out ground balls more than once, and he's at times reacted to making outs at the plate by throwing equipment and slamming bats -- sometimes to the point of putting teammates at risk of injury.
"Wander is a really good kid and good person. He's a young player that is learning and dealing with the challenges of being a major league player, and some of the frustrations that come with it over the course of this season," Cash told reporters (per Bally Sports). "There's been probably multiple times that the way he has handled his frustrations have not been the way that we ask our players to uphold being the best teammate. That being said, we're going to continue to support Wander as he works through this."
Thursday was the two-year anniversary of Franco's MLB debut. The 22-year-old wunderkind is hitting .287/.349/.455 with home runs and 24 stolen bases this season, and he is third among all players with 3.8 WAR. He is hitting only .192/.246/.269 over his last 13 games, however, and at times he shows his frustration on the field, including by jogging out routine plays.
Taylor Walls replaced Franco at shortstop on Thursday and presumably will on Friday, as well. Walls is hitting .206/.316/.381 with seven home runs this season.
Despite losing four of their last five games and six of their last 10 games, the Rays still have baseball's best record at 52-26. They play the second games of a four-game home series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
