The offseason leading into the 2019 season must have been frustrating for Maikel Franco, especially with the way 2018 ended. Franco played in only nine of the Phillies‘ 28 games in the final month of the season, with Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera starting in his place.
This move was really done because Franco had been playing so poorly defensively, but even his offensive numbers were pedestrian to the point where Gabe Kapler shuffled the lineup around to work in some other pieces (Roman Quinn, Dylan Cozens, Jose Bautista).