Wander Franco is smiling again, which is good for the Rays and bad for opponents

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Wander Franco didn’t have a lot of fun last year.

Injuries limited him to just 83 games, and between the hamstring and quad issues early and the broken hamate bone in July, he wasn’t at full health for many of those. The encore to his smashing 2021 rookie showing wasn’t much of a show, as he hit a relatively pedestrian .277 with six homers, 33 RBIs and a .746 OPS.

“It was very frustrating,” Franco said Thursday via team interpreter Manny Navarro.

But also quite educational: “I learned a lot,” he said.

Including some important lessons about preparation and conditioning.

More impressive for someone who hasn’t yet turned 22 and has a contract guaranteeing him $182 million, he did something about it.

An extensive winter workout program in his native Dominican Republic reshaped Franco’s 185-pound body, making him more athletic and flexible, and better prepared to navigate the challenges of a 162-game major-league season, more than half of which is played on artificial turf.

“I committed myself to just working harder and just to be more flexible, and that’s pretty much it,” Franco said. “It’s to be prepared so that I can be able to last the entire season this year.”

His Rays bosses are pleased with what he did.

Bench coach Rodney Linares saw the gradual improvement during the winter in the Dominican; manager Kevin Cash noticed the difference right away during a quick visit in January.

“Watching him the other day, he looked great,” Linares said. “He looks amazing.”

That Franco took the initiative to prepare on his own was even better.

“I don’t think anybody gave him a direct message on, ‘Hey, you need to do this with your preparation,’” Cash said. “We’re all going to continue to learn about Wander. I’m confident saying he is highly motivated. He’s got a lot of pride. And he wants to be the best player he can be as quickly as he can be.

“I think he recognized some things last year that made it more challenging than not, just because of the wear and tear of playing every day up until the time he got hurt, the turf, all those things. I think he made some calculated decisions to try to adjust off of and come in more prepared, equipped for this season.”

Plus, Linares said, Franco realized the change was necessary.

“Wander is a proud man, and he took he took responsibility for what happened last year,” Linares said. “He didn’t blame anybody. I know a lot of the things were kind of unlucky, like when he hurt the hamate (on a swing). Those are things you can’t control. I think the quad thing he could have controlled a little bit better. But he took ownership for it. …

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“For him to understand that there’s a lot of things that you need to do to play at this level and maintain that kind of superstar (level) that he wants to be, you’ve got to take care of yourself. And I think those were things that last year he kind of lacked, and now that he’s learned.”

The experience was challenging emotionally as well.

“He was hurt; he’d never been hurt,” Linares said. “It’s really hard for somebody that age, that’s always been successful, whenever he has an injury or something happens, for him to kind of, like, control his emotions and stuff like that.

“I think that was a real test last year for him, first full year in the big leagues, and then having to go through all that stuff.”

Not only does Franco look better physically, he is smiling, laughing and cutting up in the clubhouse again, showing some of the joy he played with in 2021.

“Talking to him, watching him in the cage, there’s a lot of smiles, there’s a lot of high energy,” Cash said. “It’s kind of like, ‘Let’s take what took place in 2022 and move on from it.’”

Franco isn’t too concerned about specific goals, saying he just wants to help the Rays win and get deeper into the postseason: “If I hit 20 homers, 30, then I’ll hit 20, 30, but it’s just going to happen in time.” (Though when asked about matching teammate Randy Arozarena’s 20-homer, 20-steal performance, Franco was adamant he could, saying in English, “Yeah I can, sure.”)

What could a healthy and motivated Franco do?

“He can be as good as he wants to be,” Linares said. “He’s one of the best players in baseball.”

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