The Fringe Five is a weekly exercise (introduced in April) wherein the author utilizes regressed stats, scouting reports, and also his own heart to identify and/or continue monitoring the most compelling fringe prospects in all of baseball.
Central to this exercise, of course, is a definition of the word fringe. The author recognizes that the word has different connotations for different sorts of readers. For the purposes of this column, however — and for reasons discussed more thoroughly in a recent edition of the Five — the author has considered eligible for the Five any prospect who was absent from all of three notable preseason top-100 prospect lists.
This week, the reader will find that three players retain their place among the Five: contact-heavy Phillies prospect Maikel Franco; Atlanta’s reliever-turned-starter, right-hander Cody Martin; and grievously under-represented White Sox infielder Marcus Semien.
Departing from the Five proper — largely because the author is restless and dumb — are well-educated Mets pitching prospect Matthew Bowman and perpetually youthful other Mets prospect Wilmer Flores.
Replacing that pair are recently promoted Washington left-hander Robbie Ray and right-handed Cleveland prospect Danny Salazar, who is very likely to receive a promotion (to the majors) on Thursday.
Now, here are this week’s Fringe Five:
Maikel Franco, 3B, Philadelphia (Profile)
In last week’s edition of the Five, the present author called attention to Franco’s excellent plate-discipline figures (including, at that point, a 1:2 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 52 plate appearances) as an indication that the 20-year-old was adapting quickly to the Double-A Eastern League. “To sustain such a high contact rate (in particular) would be unlikely, though,” the author either expressly stated or at least suggested quite vigorously. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Franco more or less has sustained those same basic rates. Consider: in his 24 plate appearances for Reading since last Tuesday, the third baseman has recorded a 0:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio, while also hitting a home run. His defense-independent numbers at Reading now? These: 76 PA, 5 HR, 1 BB, 3 K.
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