NEW YORK — The baseball spun forth from Wander Franco’s right hand and ascended just above his head. The ball rotated so quickly its seams blurred, its flight brief enough for the television broadcasters to question if their eyes had deceived them, but long enough for worry to flash through the mind of Tampa Bay Rays general manager Peter Bendix.
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“I thought to myself: Please don’t throw the ball away,” Bendix said.
For a member of the executive class, even a millennial like Bendix who is “very much in favor of players expressing themselves, players having fun,” the priority will always be execution over aesthetics. This principle has guided the Rays throughout its extended run of success on a shoestring budget. The team has reached the postseason in four straight years through a carefully calibrated calculus, smothering opponents by maximizing their strengths while limiting their mistakes.
“You hope to see the more fundamental play,” Bendix said. “But — it’s all about completing the play.”
On that night two weeks ago, when Franco executed the flip that launched a thousand GIFs, Bendix did not have to fret. Franco, the best player on the best team in baseball, made it look easy. He caught the ball and pumped a strike to first base. His throw beat the runner by a foot. Another thought crossed Bendix’s mind: “I was able to say: That was pretty cool.”
To see the singular talent of Franco, a 22-year-old shortstop capable of playing with flair while making the play, has been one of the joys of this season for the Rays. After opening the year on a 13-game winning streak, the team has maintained its position atop the vaunted American League East despite a slew of injuries to starting pitchers.
Before a series this week at Citi Field, Mets manager Buck Showalter called the Rays “the league leaders in everything.” He was only slightly exaggerating. Tampa Bay entered Thursday’s games leading the sport in runs while posting the lowest collective earned-run average. In a relative reversal, the club’s offense outpaces its vaunted run-prevention apparatus.
The lineup is deep and dangerous. Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz and Josh Lowe have each hit 10 home runs. Eight different players were slugging .500 or better heading into Thursday, while 11 had hit six or more homers. After a sophomore season marred by injury, Franco has emerged as the most valuable player of the bunch, at least according to advanced metrics. He ranked fourth in Baseball-Reference’s version of wins above replacement and fifth in the version used by FanGraphs. He’s combined an .851 OPS with 14 stolen bases, tied for third-best in the sport, with sterling defense up the middle, at a time when restrictions on defensive shifts have amplified the importance of the position.
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“I don’t know there are very many limits to what he’s able to do,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said.
In short, he has been the sort of player the Rays envisioned they were securing when the team agreed to a franchise-record 11-year, $182 million contract after his rookie season in 2021. When the team projected how its roster, which won 86 games last season, might recapture its 100-win form from 2021, a crucial factor was Franco’s health. Franco declined an interview request, made through a team official, on Thursday morning because he needed to duck into the training room. Bendix cited Franco’s improved understanding of his own physical limitations as an important aspect of his development.
Called up in June 2021, Franco posted an .810 OPS during his 70-game rookie season. He appeared in only 83 games last season, dogged first by a strained quadriceps and then a broken bone in his hand that required surgery. His OPS sagged to .746.
“When he was healthy, he was good,” Bendix said. “But there were times that he wasn’t playing at 100 percent. So we didn’t see the full actualized version of Wander for a sustained period of time. And that’s really tough for anybody, and it’s especially tough for a young player who’s never really dealt with that.”
In signing Franco to that decade-long contract, the Rays likely found a bargain. But the franchise also took on an element of risk, wagering on Franco’s ability to stay healthy, motivated and productive during the lifespan of the deal. The first season of the new contract demonstrated some of the downside risk — what if Franco’s injury issues became chronic?
“He’s a player who we appreciate greatly, who we think has immense potential,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said before the season. “But the many different paths (the deal) could go are very wide. It’s a high-stakes commitment, so to speak, that, if things go the way we expect them to, we think should benefit the organization’s profile over a long period of time.
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“But there’s no guarantees in any of this stuff. You never know what’s ahead. The risk is if things don’t go as we expect them to — which can happen, it happens with players — the effect that it has year over year on our competitiveness is greater. There’s less flexibility. Our challenges are enough as they are. But you’ve got to take your shots from time to time, and we felt like that was one that worth taking. He was the right person.”
Franco has demonstrated that by how he responded to his physical travails in 2022. The Rays maintained dialogue with him during the winter. He improved his hydration and emphasized stretching. His pregame routine has taken on a more consistent structure, which team officials had been suggesting.
Thus far, he has avoided major calamity. A neck spasm shortened his outing on May 11, but he returned to the lineup a day later. Even in the midst of a mini-slump, Franco is the sort of player who helps his team with his glove or his legs, a five-tool star flourishing. He can make the fundamental play. And he can also make you flip. Even his teammates don’t know what to expect next.
“I don’t know that he’s going to tell anybody, either,” Brandon Lowe said. “When you see it for the first time, it’ll probably be the first time we see it, too.”
(Top photo: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
