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          Tampa Bay Rays rookie Wander Franco lives up to the hype for at least one night

          • David SchoenfieldJun 22, 2021, 11:53 PM ET
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            • Covers MLB for ESPN.com
            • Former deputy editor of Page 2
            • Been with ESPN.com since 1995

          First game in the majors? Check. Standing ovation? Check. First curtain call? Check. Delivering on the hype? Absolutely.

          Nobody doubts Wander Franco will hit in the big leagues, but the Tampa Bay Rays reinforced the belief that he will be an impact hitter right away when manager Kevin Cash put him in the No. 2 slot in the lineup for his major league debut on Tuesday at Tropicana Field against the visiting Boston Red Sox.

          No big deal? Well, the last player younger than Franco to hit second in his debut was Andruw Jones in 1996. The only other younger players since 1970 to hit second in their debuts were Roberto Alomar and Ken Griffey Jr. -- you know, just two future Hall of Famers.

          And all the kid did was go 2-for-4 with a walk, a double and a clutch three-run home run. After the homer in the fifth inning, he hopped his way through the high-five line to the dugout in joyful celebration and then stepped out on the field for the standing ovation and a triumphant wave to the fans.

          It took just five innings for the game's next superstar to arrive with an exclamation point.

          As the 20-year-old switch-hitter stepped in for his first plate appearance against Red Sox veteran left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, Rays fans gave Franco a loud standing ovation -- not that the Rays need the youngster to rescue a franchise coming off a World Series appearance. It was more an acknowledgment that this will be the start of something special.

          "I feel ready. I've been waiting a long time for this moment. So I feel really good about it," the 20-year-old Franco told reporters on the field before the game. In that first plate appearance, he immediately showed why scouts love him, beyond just the hit tool, the power potential and the athleticism.

          He fell behind Rodriguez with two foul balls on a cutter and a four-seam fastball up in the zone, then took four straight pitches off the plate, including laying off a 3-2 changeup, in an impressive display of plate discipline and calm nerves.

          Before the game, Cash said he expects Franco to play "a lot," splitting time between third base and shortstop -- this is the Rays, after all, with whom versatility is vital. He started at third base in this game, with Joey Wendle getting a day off against the southpaw Rodriguez.

          Franco had hit .315/.367/.586 at Triple-A Durham, where he was the youngest player in the league, after skipping Double-A. The No. 1 prospect on Kiley McDaniel's preseason top 100 list, Franco hit .332 in his minor league career with more walks than strikeouts.

          "I think he's kind of shown to everybody he's ready," Cash said before the game. "He's conquered every level. I think it was totally the right decision by us coming out of spring training, let him go play some Triple-A baseball, he had never done that. ... To his credit, he's made the most of it. He's kind of, in fairness, forced our hand. He has shown that he's ready to be here and help us win."

          There are those who say the Rays held Franco back for service-time reasons, that he should have started the season in the majors -- or was even ready last season. Perhaps he would have reached the majors under normal circumstances last year, as he likely would have started at Double-A, but his time in the minors compares to other recent young stars. Check the games played in the minors before these players' initial call-ups:

          Bryant was older since he came out of college, but I mention him for illustrative purposes as the most obvious player held back for service time, and also the player who had played the most games in the upper levels of the minors. Franco actually has the second-fewest games above Class A, behind only Soto's incredibly quick rise to the majors.

          Compare Franco as well to Jarred Kelenic, ESPN's No. 3 prospect entering the season. Many accused the Mariners of sins against the sport after holding Kelenic in Triple-A to start the season, even though he had played just 21 games above Class A and just 26 when they called up him. He struggled mightily, hitting .096 in 23 games and the Mariners had to send him back to Triple-A. In retrospect, they rushed him to the majors as opposed to holding him back.

          So I think the Rays played it the right way. They gave Franco time in the upper minors after the lack of competition in 2020, he faced some upper-level pitching in game conditions, and he proved he was ready.

          In his second plate appearance, Franco flew out to center field, just shy of the warning track, on a 2-2, 93 mph fastball on the inside part of the plate. For a second, the crowd thought Franco had connected squarely.

          He came up for the third time in the bottom of the fifth with two runners on and nobody out, the Red Sox leading 5-2.

          Rodriguez had thrown Franco all fastballs, cutters and changeups his first two trips. He started him with a first-pitch slider, below the strike zone, and Franco didn't miss, golfing it out over the wall and into the first row -- not necessarily a loud home run but certainly perfect enough: 95.5 mph exit velocity, 27 degree launch angle, 362 feet of joy. (Like Trout, the scouting that Franco is a terrific low-ball hitter appears accurate.)

          As Franco rounded third base, he pointed to the crowd and then raised both arms above his head as he crossed home plate. He saluted Yandy Diaz with a two-handed high-five and then hopped eight times high-fiving a conga line of teammates on his way to the dugout, where he received more hugs and chest bumps before receiving the curtain call.

          Rays sideline reporter Tricia Whitaker reported that Roan Hoefling, a 15-year-old Rays fan from Fort Myers, caught the ball. He told her that if the ball was going to get out, "I'm going to cry, because I know I'm going to catch it." He returned the ball to the Rays to give to Franco, but he will have a memory for a lifetime.

          According to Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs, Franco ranked 49th in the minor leagues with a 7.2% swinging strike rate -- but third best among 20-year-olds and the other two weren't playing at Triple-A. In fact, he was one of just three 20-year-olds playing above Class A, and the other two are in Double-A (Riley Greene and C.J. Abrams). That's just one reason scouts love him.

          This is what made Franco such an exceptional prospect and what should make him a great major leaguer in time -- a preternatural contact ability that comes with hard contact. He's like Guerrero in that regard, whereas Acuna and Tatis have more swing-and-miss in their games. Guerrero's raw power might be on another level, but like Guerrero is doing this season, the belief is Franco will eventually learn to lift the ball more and grow into a home run hitter.

          In the seventh inning, batting right-handed against lefty reliever Josh Taylor, Franco drilled a double to left field, a 105.5 mph rocket that got to the wall even though it wasn't hit into the corner. He even showed off his speed, hustling into second base with a pop-up slide. In the ninth, with the game still tied and batting lefty against tough Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, Franco topped the ball back to Barnes, a nasty 3-1 curveball that he certainly didn't see much of in the minors.

          In baseball, I always warn: Beware the hype. This is a hard sport to play and hitting at the major league level is the most difficult skill to project. One game is hardly a foundation to bet on, but Franco displayed all the ability that made him one of the few prospects in the past two decades whom you can confidently project to hit .300 in the majors.

          The fun is it all is just beginning and we get to see if he can do it in 2021. Tune in Wednesday for game No. 2.