Back at the Beach: Inside Christian Franklin’s Return From Injury

April 18, 2023 by Sam Weiderhaft

It was days before the start of the 2022 season. Christian Franklin had just come off his first taste of professional baseball, playing 20 games at the tail end of the 2021 season with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans after being drafted by the Cubs in the fourth round of that year’s MLB Draft. He was preparing for his first full season in the organization in Arizona for Spring Training, even getting to enter a big-league game late in the contest at Sloan Park. But days later, on the backfields of the complex, Franklin’s 2022 ended before it ever really got started.

“It was the first minor league game I played in Spring Training,” Franklin recalled. “There was a fly ball to right-center field, I was sprinting as hard as I could.”

Franklin remembered getting underneath the ball and taking a step to slow down. After that step, he went down.

“I felt something wrong with my knee,” Franklin said. “It got dislocated and I could see it through my baseball pants, it was scary.”

What Franklin would soon find out was that he tore the patella tendon in his left knee and would require surgery. Less than a week later, he was off to Chicago for the operation. His 2022 season was over just as the excitement was building.

“Initially, I cried,” Franklin said, remembering being told that he would be out for the entire year. “I care about this game so much.”

The outfielder had put up impressive numbers on a very good Arkansas team in college. In 2019, he made the SEC All-Freshman team after playing 64 games as the primary left fielder for a Razorbacks team that made the College World Series. He improved on that with an All-SEC Second Team nod in 2021 after hitting .274 with 13 home runs. The Cubs jumped on his athletic ability with their fourth-round selection shortly after his college season ended.

“I was super pumped, man,” Franklin said at the time. He drew 17 walks in that 20-game span in Myrtle Beach in 2021 and collected 13 hits with one home run. His 2022, however, would look much different.

Franklin returned to the Cubs complex in Mesa, Arizona six weeks after surgery to begin rehab. He wasn’t doing a lot when he first got there, just working on the field for 30 minutes to an hour a day. This gave Franklin time to pursue other interests in his hotel room, such as learning guitar.

“I played every day for 3-4 hours at least,” Franklin said. “I also read a lot of mentality books.”

Every two weeks, the brace he had strapped over his left knee would be opened 10 degrees for more mobility. Eventually, Franklin was cleared to go and began looking toward 2023.

“I’d see my teammates out there doing their thing and get sad,” Franklin remembered. “It gave me a different perspective on the game. It made me mentally stronger.”

The 23-year-old was assigned back to Myrtle Beach at the end of the 2023 Spring Training. Franklin mentioned being thankful just to be back on the field and healthy.

“It’s awesome to be out here with Buddy (Bailey) again,” Franklin said. “We have a good team and a good squad out here.”

In his first eight games of the new season, Franklin has been on a tear with three doubles, a triple, and a home run while reaching base safely in every game. The speedy outfielder has also stolen three bases and driven in six runs.

“I used to be a guy that was really focused on stats, especially in college,” Franklin said. “Now, I just want to focus on not giving away at-bats. I want to always be focused.”

Above all, Franklin wants to add to the success of the whole group in Myrtle Beach.

“I want to play hard every day and help my team win.”

A healthy and hungry Christian Franklin will return to Pelicans Ballpark when the Birds face the Augusta GreenJackets for a six-game set from April 18-23.