Franklin was promoted from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield on Tuesday.
Franklin had been on a roll in his last four starts with Peoria, logging a 1.83 ERA and 28:2 K:BB over 19.2 innings. The hard-throwing righty can lose the strike zone on occasion -- he's sporting a 10.3 percent walk rate for the season -- but Franklin has emerged as one of the Cardinals' better pitching prospects as he transitions from college reliever to minor-league starter.
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Cardinals' Tanner Franklin: Dynamite in season debut
Rotowire
Franklin fanned nine batters while allowing two unearned runs across 3.2 innings in his season debut with High-A Peoria on Friday.
Franklin was electric, striking out nine of the 16 hitters he faced while topping out at 100.3 mph on the radar gun. A closer at Tennessee before being selected with the 72nd overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, Franklin is being given an opportunity to start in the Cardinals system. The 21-year-old still needs to show he can handle the workload and has the repertoire to turn a lineup over, but he has major breakout potential if he does.
