WASHINGTON — Practice made Maikel Franco perfect, at least for a day.
Franco didn’t play in the series opener here Friday night, a notable omission considering fellow third baseman J.P. Crawford is out with a broken hand and rookie utilityman Jesmuel Valentin had made only three previous starts. But the Phillies preferred to keep Franco on the bench and in the batting cage in their latest — and perhaps last — appeal to him to hit the ball in the air more frequently.
“When you’re not playing,” manager Gabe Kapler said, “you have a chance to work on your craft.