Second baseman/shortstop Nick Franklin has been called up and will join the Mariners today, tweets Ryan Divish of The News Tribune. Franklin will have to be added to the team's 40-man roster; he'll take the place of a minor leaguer, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The news comes on the heels of Carlos Triunfel's season debut, which occurred Friday. Triunfel's one start came at second base, though both Mariners prospects can play both middle infield positions. Former first-rounder Dustin Ackley, meanwhile, has limped to a .205/.266/.250 line and will join Jesus Montero at Triple-A, according to Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710.
Franklin, 22, was drafted 27th overall by the Mariners out of high school in 2009. He was hitting .324/.440/.472 in 177 Triple-A plate appearances, a vast improvement from his production at that level last year. Franklin's rankings on top 100 prospect lists prior to the season: 69th by ESPN's Keith Law, 79th by Baseball America, and 43rd by MLB.com. BA ranked him fifth among Mariners prospects prior to the season, noting, "He profiles as a solid regular who could play in a few All-Star Games."
If he stays up all year, Franklin will accumulate 126 days of big league service, making Super Two arbitration eligibility possible after the 2015 season. It's unknown whether that amount of service will put Franklin within the top 22% of the two-to-three class at that point. Super Two players go to arbitration four times instead of the usual three.
