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ATLANTA -- Next Monday will mark the third anniversary of Jeff Francoeur's Major League debut. All indications are that he'll still be in the Majors at that time.

But as his offensive struggles have continued, he's given Braves management more reason to at least continue evaluating the potential circumstances of sending him back to the Minor Leagues.

Because the National League East first-place Phillies sent Brett Myers back to the Minors on Tuesday with the hope that he'd regain his successful pitching form, there was at least some talk at Turner Field on Wednesday regarding the possibility of Francoeur encountering the same fate.

While a team official at least confirmed there has been discussion about sending Francoeur to the Minors to rediscover his lost swing, there was no indication that this was an imminent possibility.

One primary reason that the Braves haven't shipped Francoeur back to the Minors is the potential backlash they might receive from their fans, who have remained faithful to No. 7, despite the fact that he entered Wednesday night's game against the Phillies hitting just .239 with a .294 on-base percentage and .383 slugging percentage.

"I'd like to see a little more of the enthusiasm he showed early in his career," Chipper Jones said. "He's really down on himself right now and I think he'll come out of it a little faster if he doesn't take the game as seriously as he is."

Even before he homered in his Major League debut on July 7, 2005, Francoeur was a favorite among Braves fans. Growing up in suburban Atlanta, he was named the high school Player of the Year for Georgia in both football and baseball.

"This is really the first time he's ever struggled," said Braves All-Star catcher Brian McCann, who has been Francouer's best friend since they were 12 years old. The only three qualified NL outfielders with a lower OPS (on-base plus-slugging-percentage) than Francoeur's mark of .677 are Houston's Michael Bourn, Los Angeles' Juan Pierre and Colorado's Willy Taveras, who are all known primarily for their speed.

"Everybody goes through slumps," McCann said. "You have to try to catch what you're doing wrong mechanically before it snowballs. That's why this game, to me, is the toughest sport to play. It's every day."

After hitting .293 last year, Francoeur entered this season hoping to keep that consistency, while improving his power and bidding for a third consecutive season with at least 100 RBIs.

But in his past 72 games entering Wednesday, the 24-year-old outfielder had hit .229 with a .291 on-base percentage and a .351 slugging percentage. There was some hope that he was turning the corner when he recorded consecutive multihit games on June 12-13.

But over the next 16 games, Francoeur hit .138 with a .206 on-base percentage and a .155 slugging percentage.

"It's tough to see him go through it," McCann said. "But you see what kind of guy you are when you are struggling, and he's still trying to stay upbeat. Everybody around here knows that he's working as hard as he can. It would be one thing if he wasn't at least trying."

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but we can't move Jeff to the minors because it might hurt the 12-year olds feelings?

2Brave2Bscared

Jul 3 2008, 02:42 PM

Wow, has it really come to this? Don't get me wrong, I think it's long overdue, but I have to admit that I'm a little shocked that the Braves are even considering the possibility of sending him back down to the minors.

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but we can't move Jeff to the minors because it might hurt the 12-year olds feelings?

I agree with you, but keep in mind that revenue is being considered here, and Francoeur makes the Braves a lot of money still (admissions, jerseys, etc.). The Braves management doesn't care all that much about that 12-year-old's feelings, but they do care about his money.

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"I do not agree with this, but I have to do what I have to do," Francoeur told the AJC in a text message Friday morning. "After three years of playing every day it was surprising it happened like this."