Section 215
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Philadelphia Sports: Section 215 top 25 Philadelphia athletes revealed

By Chuck Booth

Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) celebrates with center Joel Embiid (21) after his game winning shot against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) celebrates with center Joel Embiid (21) after his game winning shot against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Number 10: Maikel Franco – Third Baseman, Philadelphia Phillies

2017 is the year for Maikel Franco. For the last two seasons, his power potential has been described fully, and he has been talked about as a future building block for the Phillies future. 2017 is the year where Franco needs to cement his status as a cornerstone for the franchise. Franco jumped into the spotlight in 2015 with 14 home runs in 80 games, before his season was cut short by future Phillie Jeremy Hellickson.

2016 was the year Franco was primed to break out. His bat was on fire from the beginning of spring training, dropping bombs left and right. Everyone bought into the Franco hype-train, including himself. Franco got in his own head, trying to kill a baseball every time that he could, he was overly aggressive at times at the plate. This combination of pressure he put on himself with the extra aggressiveness led to Franco not having the season that all of Philadelphia envisioned. His average dropped .025 points, from .280 to .255, he hit only 9 more homers despite playing in almost twice as many games. All in

All in all, it was a productive season for an average third baseman, but that is not what we thought of Franco to be. That is why 2017 is such an important year for Maikel. Is it the year where he proves his doubters wrong, he becomes the all-star caliber third baseman that can produce 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs that the Phillies have lacked in their lineup since Scott Rolen. Or is Franco going to just be another cog in the ever-changing third base landscape for the Phillies, while they continue to search for a franchise bat. Being ranked 10th for Franco is mostly based on the optimism that Franco can be the third or fourth batter in a playoff lineup, but off all the players on the list, Franco could be one to fall faster than others.