Franchy Cordero Is In an Awkward Spot
Outfielder Franchy Cordero joined the Boston Red Sox this season in a disastrous trade centered around now-Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi. The 26-year-old had spent four partial seasons in the majors, one with Kansas City and three in the Padres organization prior to that. He never got consistent time in the Show, but the outfield swap gave him the opportunity to carve out a more permanent role for himself in Boston.
Cordero made it just 34 games with the Red Sox before being sent down to the minor leagues. His time in the senior circuit didn’t go very well. His slash line (which is comprised of batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage) was a putrid .179/.228/.274. Cordero hit just one home run in 95 at-bats and struck out in over a third of them. Based on those stats, the decision to send him down to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox wasn’t a surprise.
Here’s where things get weird. Franchy Cordero has been absolutely mashing the ball in his stint with the WooSox. In 61 at-bats over 15 games, he is slashing .377/.457/.738. He has five home runs and fifteen runs batted in. That’s an RBI per game. Plus, Cordero is doing stuff like this:
Too Good for Worcester, But Not Good Enough for Boston
This is a really awkward situation for Franchy Cordero to be in. He’s not good enough for the Major Leagues, but he’s seemingly too good to be in Triple-A. There’s worse spots to be than Triple-A obviously, but it’s very odd that none of what he’s doing in Worcester has translated to production in Boston. I would suggest that he needs to have a way more controlled approach to the plate. Every swing he takes is an absolute daddy hack. When he actually makes contact, it goes very far very fast, but he strikes out way too much. While in Boston, he hit the hardest ball from a Red Sox hitter since 2015 at 118.6 MPH, but he also struck out trying to vaporize a pitch from a position player:
I’m not sure what the best course of action is for handling Franchy Cordero, but there’s certainly a wise call based on the data we have. If I were the Red Sox, I wouldn’t make a knee-jerk reaction to his offensive explosion in Triple-A by calling him up again, especially considering he’s never really produced at the MLB level. Boston should prioritize prospects like Jarren Duran over Cordero right now. If consistent play makes it clear that Franchy has turned a corner offensively, he can get another shot.
***
Vendetta Sports Media is sponsored by Monkey Knife Fight, the fastest growing DFS site in the industry. MKF’s unique style and gameplay make betting fun and easy. Use our promo code ‘VENDETTA’ or use the link below to get a 100% instant match on any deposit. Let them know that we sent you!
SUBSCRIBE to the Vendetta YouTube Channel!
SHOP for Vendetta Merch!
SUPPORT Vendetta on Patreon!
