Maikel Franco on hitting 2 Home runs and Aaron Nola on his pitching performance in Phillies’ win. Martin Frank/The News Journal
BRADENTON, Fla. – For Carlos Santana, patience is a virtue, and that's what he's trying to impart to his young, impressionable teammates.
That's also why the Phillies pursued Santana when he became a free agent last winter. The Phillies signed the former Cleveland Indians star to a three-year contract worth $60 million.
Santana will turn 32 years old in a few weeks, and his biggest impact beyond his remarkably consistent bat – he has averaged 25 homers and 85 RBIs over his previous seven seasons – is his patience.
And Santana's main pupil this spring happens to be Maikel Franco, who is not known for his patience at the plate. Perhaps that's starting to change.
Franco hit two home runs Friday in the Phillies' 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first was a two-run shot on a 3-and-0 count; the second, a grand slam to left-center. Of Franco's five homers, two have come on 3-and-0 counts, a sign that he's waiting for his pitch rather than flailing away at pitches out of the strike zone.
"I tried to read every single pitch and attack in the zone," he said. "If they give me a green light on 3-0, I know I can put good contact on a fastball that I want. ... Most of my at-bats, I’m three balls, no strikes, or 3-and-1, you know what I mean?
"Those kind of things I want to improve. I want to get better. So I’m selecting my pitch and hitting my pitch and not being too aggressive."
Maikel Franco on hitting 2 Home runs and Aaron Nola on his pitching performance in Phillies’ win. Martin Frank/The News Journal
Jake Arrieta lasts two innings, allows two runs on three hits and strikes out two against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. Daniel Sato/The News Journal/Wochit
Jake Arrieta and Phillies manager Gabe Kapler on Arrieta’s first outing. Martin Frank/The News Journal
Phillies OF Aaron Altherr talks about hitting a go-ahead grand slam off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, the first the left-hander has allowed in his career. Meghan Montemurro, The News Journal
Former Phillie and current Dodgers 2B Chase Utley discusses being back in Philadelphia for the second time after being traded in 2015, if he pays attention to how his former team is doing and if he plans to play next season. Meghan Montemurro, The News Journal
Phillies rookie outfielder Nick Williams discusses the team's 9-8 win in 15 innings after his walk-off double, and Rhys Hoskins' two homer game. Meghan Montemurro, The News Journal
Phillies 1B Rhys Hoskins discusses his 14th home run of the season, his key bases-loaded walk and reliever Luis Garcia's impressive eighth inning against the Nationals. Meghan Montemurro, The News Journal
J.P. Crawford, one of the Phillies' top prospects, talks about getting called up and making his debut against the Mets. Meghan Montemurro, The News Journal
Phillies’ Maikel Franco on 2 HR day
Arrieta makes first spring start for the Phillies
Jake Arrieta makes Phillies debut
Phillies' Altherr calls grand slam off Kershaw 'special'
Utley on being back in Philly: 'It's still a little awkward.'
Phillies' Williams on Hoskins: 'He's not human.'
Phillies' Hoskins talks about key walk, home run
J.P. Crawford discusses promotion to Phillies
Santana has had something to do with that in his brief time with the Phillies. He has always hit that way.
In 2014, for example, Santana led the American League with 113 walks. His batting average was just .231. But Santana was 11th in the league with an on-base percentage of .365. Of the 10 players ahead of him, none had a batting average below .276.
"I know I have on-base skill; I take a lot of walks," Santana said. "I tried to figure out that [earlier in his career]. I talk to [Maikel] Franco a lot and Nick Williams about that. They are young, aggressive guys, and I try to get them to be patient and wait for their pitch."
Franco, for one, is trying to get the message.
He has led the Phillies in home runs the last two seasons, but he has been maddeningly inconsistent, prone to long dry spells. Last season, for example, Franco led the Phillies with 24 home runs. But he batted just .230. He had just 44 walks in 623 plate appearances and an on-base percentage of .281.
"I talked a lot with Santana," Franco said. "Santana, he’s got a lot of success with that. He takes like 100 walks for years. It’s a good thing. Being around him and working with him and getting more information about it, it’ll be good for me."
It's clear that Phillies manager Gabe Kapler values on-base percentage, and it's also clear that Franco is by no means alone in his paucity of walks.
Over the last five seasons, the Phillies never finished higher in on-base percentage than 11th out of 15 teams in the National League. They never had an on-base percentage higher than .315, which they did last year when they finished 13th.
Conversely, when the Phillies won five straight NL East division titles from 2007-11, the Phillies never had an on-base percentage of less than .323. In 2007, they led the NL with an on-base percentage of .354.
Kapler wants to get back to that. He's seeing that with Franco.
"Attacking in a 3-and-0 count, that was pretty impressive," Kapler said. "It just demonstrates how much confidence he has. He's got the right approach; his mindset is in the right place. Things are working out really well for him right now, trending in the right direction."
Santana has certainly helped, and he has enjoyed it, too.
"I try to enjoy [the young players]," Santana said. "I try to help a lot, especially with like, Franco and J.P. Crawford, [Rhys] Hoskins, Nick Williams. What I try to relay is I’m enjoying this, and they should, too."
Nola set for season
Aaron Nola's next start will be in the Phillies' season opener next Thursday against the Atlanta Braves.
He said he's ready. Kapler agreed after Nola pitched four innings, allowed four hits and no runs. He walked one and struck out five.
"He’s starting to look to me a lot like – I saw [Zack] Grienke in the American League when he was with Kansas City – kind of a familiar look to the way that he uses the gas pedal and the break effectively and fills up the strike zone with all his pitches. Real calm, easy, collected demeanor is really reminiscent of some of the best pitchers in baseball."
Phillies reassign 4 players
The Phillies sent pitchers Pedro Beato and Tom Eshelman, along with outfielder Collin Cowgill and catcher Matt McBride, to their minor-league camp. Also, infielder Adam Rosales was granted his unconditional release. The Phillies have 40 players in camp.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.