Franco earns final Player of the Week honors
ZEBULON, NC - Third baseman Carlos Franco was named the Carolina League Player of the Week today after batting .360 with two home runs, two doubles and nine runs batted in over the final seven games of the 2015 season. Franco is the third Mudcats player to win the award this season.
Franco, 23, finished the final week of the season batting .360 with a .500 on-base percentage, a .680 slugging percentage and a league best 1.180 OPS. His nine RBI, two home runs and nine hits were all tied for the second most in the league from August 31 through September 7.
His final week of games featured his first home run since July 16 and two three hit games. Franco went 3-for-4 with three runs, a home run and two RBI on September 3 in Frederick and 3-for-4 with two RBI on September 5 in Lynchburg. He homered twice over the final seven games, including a 12th inning two-run home run in the season finale on September 7 in Lynchburg.
The Dominican born Franco finished the 2015 season batting .254 with 117 hits, 30 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs and 62 RBI. Franco ranked second in the league in games played (134), fifth in extra-base hits (44) and fourth in base on balls (66) this season. He was also third in the Atlanta Braves farm system in home runs (11) and tied for third in RBI (62).
Keith Curcio earned Player of the Week honors for the week ending on June 14 and was the first Mudcats player to earn the award this season. Connor Lien was the second after being named Player of the Week on July 13.
The Carolina Mudcats are the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The 2015 "Braves New World" season was the first for the Mudcats as an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and their fourth straight in the historic Carolina League. First established in 1991, the Carolina Mudcats just finished their 25th straight season of baseball at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, N.C.
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