Padres’ OF Franchy Cordero Among Busiest Players in Baseball

Has hit .310 while playing 182 games since the start of the 2017 season

By Bill Center

Franchy Cordero

Padres outfield prospect Franchy Cordero has been one of the most active players in organized baseball since the start of the minor league season last April.

Through Monday night, Cordero has played in 182 games with 764 plate appearances since the end of spring training last year.

That includes his time with the Padres last summer, his breakout season with Triple-A El Paso, his Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year campaign in the Dominican Republic Winter League and that league’s post-season playoffs.

Overall, Cordero, who turned 23 last Sept. 2, has hit .310 (218-for-704) since last April with a .366 on-base percentage and a .538 slugging percentage for a .905 OPS.

He has 34 doubles, 26 triples, 25 home runs, 103 RBIs and 117 runs scored with 54 walks and 22 steals. That includes 30 games with the Padres last summer, during which he hit .228 with three doubles, three triples and three home runs.

And he’s not finished.

The round-robin portion of the Dominican League playoffs run through Jan. 18. There is a chance that the popular native of the Dominican Republic could play in the championship series and possibly the Caribbean World Series — which could push his total to approximately 200 games with 800 plate appearances.

Cordero and Manuel Margot continue to play, respectively, left and center for Escogido in the Dominican Republic playoffs. Margot joined Escogido after his team failed to reach the playoffs. The Padres have taken turns hitting second and third in Escogido’s batting order.

Margot, 23, is hitting .324 during the playoffs. Cordero is hitting .278. Each has three doubles, three walks and five RBIs in nine games.

Margot didn’t start playing until the final week of the regular season in the Dominican Republic. He hit .467 (14-for-30) in seven games.

The left-handed-hitting Cordero led the league with 50 games played. He also led the Dominican Republic in hits (60), total bases (92) and runs scored (30) and tied for first in triples (five). He was also second in OPS (.888) and slugging percentage (.495); tied for second in home runs (five); third in batting average (.323); tied for third in walks (22), and tied for fourth in RBIs (25) and doubles (seven).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Buddy Reed and Gabriel Arias are two of the hottest hitters in the Australian Baseball League while right-hander Lake Bachar continues to lead the ABL with a 2.31 earned run average. All three play for Canberra.

Center fielder Reed, 22, is 12-for-39 (.308) in an active eight-game hitting streak with four homers and five RBIs. He was 6-for-19 last week and is hitting .299 during the ABL season.

Shortstop Arias, 17, is 11-for-28 (.393) in a seven-game hitting streak with a homer and five RBIs — raising his average from .219 to .267. He was 7-for-15 last weekend with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Jarryd Dale, the Padres other 17-year-old infielder in Australia, is hitting .255 for Melbourne. The Australian native has three doubles, a triple, three homers and 11 RBIs.

Bachar, 22, has a 4–1 record after seven games (six starts). He is tied for the ABL lead in wins in addition to leading in ERA. He also has a 1.18 WHIP with 35 strikeouts in 39 innings.