Wayne Franklin
| IP | 323 |
|---|---|
| ERA | 5.545 |
| WHIP | 1.548 |
| BB/9 | 4.681 |
| SO/9 | 6.019 |
- Full name Gary Wayne Franklin
- Born 03/09/1974 in Wilmington, DE
- Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: L / Throws: L
- School Maryland - Baltimore County
- Debut 07/24/2000
- Drafted in the 36th round (1,078th overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1996.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
-
The Dodgers have one of the worst farm systems in baseball, but didn't see fit to protect Franklin before the 1998 Winter Meetings, allowing the Astros to grab him in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft. Franklin posted a 1.59 ERA and reached Double-A in his first year in the Houston organization, and spent the final two months of 2000 in the majors. His repertoire--an 88-mph fastball, a slider and a changeup--is unremarkable, but he gets outs, especially against lefthanders. Between Triple-A and the majors last year, Franklin limited lefties to a .257 average, no homers and a 26-4 strikeout-walk ratio in 105 at-bats. His numbers weren't nearly as pretty against righties: .294 average, six homers and a 32-27 strikeout-walk ratio in 163 at-bats. Franklin might be nothing more than a lefty specialist, but he can be a good one. Closer Billy Wagner is the only other southpaw reliever on the club's 40-man roster or list of spring invitees, so Franklin should make the Astros to open 2001.
