Frenchy rebuilding his career with Braves
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Jeff Francoeur is the first to concede his professional baseball career hasn’t gone quite as expected.
From the cover of Sports Illustrated at 21 to battling for a job at 32, it’s been a long, strange journey for the player once dubbed “The Natural.”
At least Francoeur is back where he feels he belongs.
“It was time to come home,” Francoeur said, smiling from ear to ear as he gazed out toward the field after a recent workout with the Atlanta Braves.
He rejoined his hometown team, the team where it all started, shortly before the start of spring training. Once the future of the franchise, he’s now just another outfielder fighting for a roster spot, but he’s fine with that new reality.
“I don’t feel the pressure I had when I was here the other time,” Francoeur said, as if talking about a totally different person. “I can just go out there and be myself. I’m comfortable in what my strengths and my weaknesses are.”
He still bounds around the field with the youthful enthusiasm of that kid who had the world at his feet after the Braves made him a first-round draft pick out of Parkview High School in the Atlanta suburbs in 2002.
Three years later, he was in the big leagues. Less than two months after his debut, he was on the cover of SI, which asked, “Can Anyone Be This Good?”
Turns out, the answer was no. After a Roy Hobbs- like start, Francoeur began to fade. Yes, he had more than 100 RBIs each of the next two seasons, but pitchers began to figure out the huge holes in his swing and his unwillingness to adjust. He faced fewer and fewer strikes but hard-headedly kept right on doing the same things.
“I was always such a good athlete, I didn’t get a chance to learn the exact fundamentals of the baseball swing. I could get away with some stuff,” said Francoeur, who also struggled to deal with the demands of his early fame.
“I’ve always said one of the biggest blessings and biggest curses is being drafted and playing for your hometown team,” he added.
Francoeur’s numbers tailed off badly in 2008, and he was unceremoniously shipped to the rival New York Mets midway through the following season. Then, at the still-tender age of 25, the player known as Frenchy began changing teams with undesirable frequency.
In a four- season span, he went from the Mets to Texas to Kansas City to San Francisco (where he was released after less than two months) and on to Cleveland (where he didn’t even make the team coming out of spring training in 2014). Having been cut by three organizations in less than a year, he really had no other option except to join San Diego’s Triple-A team, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
“If anything, it’s made me mentally a lot stronger person,” Francoeur said.
He fought his way back to the majors, turning in a solid season with the Phillies in a part-time role last season. After dealing with another disappointment when Philadelphia elected not to bring him back, Francoeur accepted a minor-league deal with the rebuilding Braves.
Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez believes Francoeur can still contribute as a player while being a positive influence on all the young players the team hopes to break in over the next season or two.
“He’s one of those guys that feels like he never left,” Gonzalez said. “It feels like he always will be and always has been a Brave.”
Freeman likes timing
AL Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel pitched two shutout innings in his spring training debut Wednesday, and the Houston Astros went on to beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5.
Keuchel faced eight batters, giving up a walk to Freddie Freeman and a double to Adonis Garcia before striking out Kelly Johnson to end the first inning. Freeman has a double and two home runs in seven at- bats after battling a wrist injury last season.
“Good things are happening right now. Hopefully I’m not peaking too early, but I feel good,” he said. “For some reason my timing came a little early this year.”
Atlanta’s Julio Teheran also made his first start. He gave up three hits ( including a home run) and two earned runs in three innings, walking one and striking out one.