When I recommended Maikel Franco in Waiver Wired two weeks ago, I titled the column "Mashing Maikel," but I didn't see this coming. On the strength of back-to-back five RBI games against the Yankees this week, 22-year-old Maikel Franco is now batting .319/.368/.604 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI over 37 games since his promotion from Triple-A. That includes eight home runs and 1.266 OPS in 21 games in June. Franco is owned in 53 percent of Yahoo leagues as I write this, which actually feels a little light under the circumstances.
Most fantasy owners are familiar with the knocks on Franco by now, as he didn't walk much in the minors and had trouble with off-speed pitches.