Tampa Bay Rays rookie phenom Wander Franco has been the consensus top prospect in baseball over the last two years, and he hasn’t taken long to put his fantastic skills on display.
The 20-year-old extended his on-base streak to 30 games with a two-run single on Monday night against the Boston Red Sox. Franco just entered the major leagues in June, and he already has a 30-game on-base streak. Ridiculous.
A 30-game on-base streak for Wander Franco. He's only 20!
(MLB x @flonase) pic.twitter.com/Gd1iN9nKjq
— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2021
Three other players in MLB history have put together a 30-game on-base streak at the age of 20 or younger: Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Arky Vaughan, and Mel Ott. They’re all in the Hall of Fame.
Wander Franco extends his on-base streak to 30 games. The only players 20 or younger to have a streak at least that long are:
Frank Robinson
Mickey Mantle
Arky Vaughan
Mel OttAll of those players are in the @baseballhall. pic.twitter.com/iK3Izlx6N8
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 31, 2021
Most consecutive games reaching base safely, players age 20 & under (since 1901):
1956 Frank Robinson: 43
1951-52 Mickey Mantle: 36
1932 Arky Vaughan: 33
1929 Mel Ott: 33
2021 Wander Franco: 30*
1928-29 Mel Ott: 30* active streak extended today
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 31, 2021
It’s easy to see why FanGraphs gave Franco an extremely rare 80 Future Value grade and recently ranked him No. 6 in all of baseball on their annual trade value list (and the Rays will definitely not be trading him anytime soon).
Franco is a remarkable talent, and he’s a key piece to a Rays team that has an eight-game winning streak after beating the Red Sox 6-1 on Monday. Tampa Bay is now 83-48 and leads the AL East by 6.5 games. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching Franco play in October.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.