First Blush: Maikel Franco is just a hell of a fun name to say (Michael Fronk-oh) and oh by the way, he also looks really small on TV.

THe Phillies finally called up uber-prospect Maikel Franco and wow!, this kid takes some seriously violent looking swings.  Looks almost painful when he misses, but when he connects it's about a pretty a right handed swing as you'll see.

Passes the eye test in the field too.  Got a weird sidearm sling thing throwing the ball to first, but the ball gets there in plenty of time.  Seems to have quick feet as well.

Franco was tearing up triple AAA to the tune of .355/.384/.539, though that seems less important to his promotion than the date.  May 15th.  The Phils get another year of team control and while as a fan, after watching Franco start to mash in spring training, you definitely wanted to see Franco in the show on opening day, it made sense for the Phillies, in this a "rebuilding" year, to wait.

What do the experts say about this kid?  Well, the numbers guys are a little sketchy.  Franco doesn't have a history of walking a whole lot (his .OBP typcially only 15 to 10 points higher than his average) and his comps lump him in with some big time busts like Josh Vitters and Blake DeWitt.  However, the scouts like both the bat and the glove, with one scout going so far as to compare Franco to a young Nolan Arenado.

So perhaps you're wondering if you should tune in and watch this kid. The answer is yes.  He may not hit 40 home runs, but he's 23 and has the quickest bat we've seen playing the hot corner since.  Well, since Scott Rolen, really.  Franco doesn't look anything like Rolen, don't get all weird and paranoid.  But, yes, finally, yes.  A reason to tune in and watch the game.