Maikel Franco Injury: Updates on Phillies Star's Wrist and Return

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco left the team's Aug. 11 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a wrist injury and won't return until next week at the earliest.

Continue for updates.

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Franco Will Not Play Sunday, Eyeing Tuesday Return

Saturday, Aug. 15

Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer passed along Franco's comments, with his timeline corresponding with the start of a series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

On Aug. 12, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reported Franco is wearing a splint on his left hand, is feeling better and is not currently discussing the disabled list. CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury also reported X-rays on Franco came back negative and he was diagnosed with a left wrist contusion.

In his rookie season, Franco has been one of the bright spots for a Phillies team that is on pace to have its worst season since 1972. Entering Tuesday night, the Phillies were 46-68 with a .398 winning percentage. That 1972 team had a .378 mark after going 59-97.

Franco has shown he can thrive with a struggling team, as he ranks second among all Phillies with 13 home runs and 48 RBI, trailing only first baseman Ryan Howard.

On Monday, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki even went as far as to say that Franco is playing himself into contention for the National League Rookie of the Year Award:

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Franco is not getting the attention of NL rookies like Matt Duffy, Joc Pederson and Kris Bryant, but he is worthy of comparisons. ... Franco would have the highest OPS (.828) and slugging percentage (.490) among NL rookies, if he qualified. He also entered Monday second in doubles (21), fourth in home runs (12), third in RBIs (47) and tied for fourth in walks (25) and extra-base hits (34).

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Cesar Hernandez and Andres Blanco will continue to fill in for Franco has he recovers.  

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com