CLEARWATER, Fla. — Matt Stairs watched Maikel Franco last season from the broadcast booth, observing a free swinger who too often looked lost at the plate.
“The wild swings, the helmets coming off,” Stairs said. “Trying to turn an 0 for 3 into a 1 for 4 with a home run instead of taking the base hit to right field and building something.”
Stairs has moved to the dugout as the Phillies’ first-year hitting coach. And the 24-year-old Franco has been one of his key pupils during spring training. Stairs is not teaching Franco a new approach, instead just trying to alter the hitter’s mind-set.