Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Wander Franco was born March 1, 2001, in Baní, Dominican Republic. He is an infielder in the MLB.

Prior to the 2020 season, Franco was ranked the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. On September 22, the Rays added Franco to their Player pool of players who would be eligible to play in the Major League Baseball postseason. Franco would not appear in an MLB game and did not play in any minor league contests due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 20, 2021, the Rays announced that Franco would be promoted to the major leagues, prior to the team’s series against the Boston Red Sox. He was formally selected to the 40-man roster on June 22. Franco made his MLB debut the same day. In the game, Franco recorded his first career hit, home run, and RBI on a three-run shot off of Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez in the fifth inning.

On August 25, Franco reached base safely for the 26th consecutive game setting a record for the longest run by a player under 21 years old since 1961. On September 7, Franco reached base safely for the 37th consecutive time passing Mickey Mantle’s 36 game on-base streak for a player 20-years old or younger.

On April 22, 2022, Franco had his first multi home run game against the Boston Red Sox. Franco became the youngest player in Tampa Bay Rays franchise history to have a multi homer game, doing so at age 21 and 52 days old.