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Throwing Arm

On the double play, he absorbs the throw, chambers his arm like Jason Statham chambering a 12-gauge round, and WHOOOM lets it fly with serious hair on the ball.  He finishes with a gaze down the length of the rifle-barrel of his right arm.

I flat enjoy watching him throw the ball.  

It's doubtful that he lacks the arm strength to make the throw from SS.  More likely, scouts are wondering about his ability to throw while his body is at weird angles.

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John Olerud Strike Zone Management

As you've noticed, Franklin is a SERIOUS pitch stalker -- compare his early 32% swing rate to John Olerud's 36%.  Also, Franklin's early 3% swing-and-miss rate compares to Olerud's typical 4% rates.  (As you know, we're not going by a short week's "sample."  We're going by a visual check of Franklin's ability to read close pitches, to time the ball and to cover the pitch.)

Anybody got a page comparing Franklin's and Olerud's minor league stats?  Oh, that's right ... you can't compare Olerud's minor league stats to all that many guys'.  Anyway -- early on, Franklin's strike zone GAME definitely reminds of Olerud.  Very few swings.  Very few misses.  Bad intentions once he does launch the bat.  Never seems to be "in between."

It's a funny thing; I was gonna say that Franklin LOOKS way different than Olerud, swinging the bat, while ending up with the same kind of strike-zone game ... but the more you look, the more he VISUALLY reminds you of (a smallish) Olerud also.

• Quiet hands kept right at shoulders
• Exaggerated! launch of belt buckle creating "sproingy" tension
• One-handed followthrough
• KBIZLT arc and angle; inside-out capability

John stood taller, didn't lean back quite as much, didn't sink his weight quite the same way.  Franklin's weight travels forward a bit more.  But except for that, slap me silly if Franklin's swing isn't in the same template, as well as the Sw% and SwStr%.

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By the way, you remember the 9-part series we did on Franklin's swing?  (It's tagged for yer.)

Two years on, everything is just the same, except Franklin no longer moves his hands rearward to get the big stretch.  He keeps his hands close to his shoulder and has a lightning-quick path to the ball.  BUT the front foot, and front hip, create the "stretch" and DiMaggio torsion for him.  He's quick'ed up.

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What Happens Next?

Pitchers will get used to the fact that Franklin refuses to swing at a ball.  When they start catching more of the strike zone -- it is a flat-out absolute certainty that, at some point, they will make him "prove it" -- the question is whether Franklin can punish them appropriately, as Olerud did (for example, hitting .363 with a .599 SLG in 1993). 

So far, it looks as though he's well capable.  His two home runs were hit on offspeed pitches; Alex Liddi, for example, has been in AAA precisely because not yet evolved to keep his hands back on those.  Franklin naturally keeps his hands back, as Olerud did, as Edgar did right from day one.  Let me know the next time you see Franklin "in between."

Olerud, for about his first three years, took a lot of pitches but didn't consistently drive the ball.  The result was a series of 115-120'ish OPS+'s based on high OBP and lukewarm SLG.  Later the power, and the stardom, came.

Here are Olerud's career stats.  The DWN seasons, and UP seasons, might create a visual of what Franklin's could look like too.

Franklin is a fast little second baseman, and John Olerud probably isn't the easy comp to grab.  Sure does remind us, though.

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