Maikel Franco of the Philadelphia Phillies voted National League Rookie of the Month for June

Third baseman Maikel Franco of the Philadelphia Phillies has been voted the National League Rookie of the
Month for June.

In his first full calendar month in the big leagues, Franco led Major League rookies in nearly every offensive category
and ranked among overall leaders in several. The 22-year-old native of Azua, Dominican Republic paced big league rookies with a .352 batting average (38-for-108), eight homers, 24 RBI, a .648 slugging percentage and .391 on-base percentage in 27 games last month. His 18 runs scored were the second-most by a rookie. Franco's 38 hits were the most in the NL overall last month and ranked third in the Majors. He also ranked among overall league leaders in hitting (5th), home runs (4th), slugging (4th), runs scored (6th) and on-base percentage (11th). The right-handed-hitting slugger, who signed with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2010, has been one of their best offensive performers since his mid-May call-up. On June 2nd, Franco's game-tying, two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning paved the way to an eventual 5-4 walk-off victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. He came through in the clutch again the following night, hitting a three-run shot off in the bottom of the ninth to knot the game at four, before the Phillies won in the 11th. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time that a rookie had hit a game-tying or game-winning homer in back-to-back games since Bobby Kielty did so in 2002 for Minnesota. Franco also made history with consecutive five-RBI performances in back-to-back wins over the New York Yankees on June 22nd-23rd, becoming just the third Major League rookie to do so since the RBI became an official statistic (1920). Despite starting the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Franco currently ranks among rookie leaders in home runs, RBI and hitting. This is his first career monthly honor, and he is just the second Phillies player to win a Rookie of the Month Award, joining Ryan Howard (September 2005) in his Rookie of the Year-winning season.

Other rookies receiving votes included San Francisco's Chris Heston (3-2, 3.56 ERA, 30 SO, 30.1 IP, no-hitter vs.
NYM on 6/9), Matt Duffy (.313, 19 R, 30 H, 6 2B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, .594 SLG) and Andrew Susac (.342, 13 H, HR, 5 RBI, .579 SLG); Randal Grichuk (.282, 17 R, 24 H, 5 HR, 12 RBI, .588 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Atlanta's Eury Perez (.286, 8 H, .310 OBP); and Arizona's Andrew Chafin (2-0, 1.84 ERA, 10 SO, 14.2 IP).

The National League Rookie of the Month for June, Maikel Franco, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably
engraved, to commemorate his performance.