ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay Rays rookie shortstop Wander Franco was back in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins after clearing MLB concussion protocols.
Franco extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a seventh-inning walk Thursday night against the Boston Red Sox. He left after the at-bat with a headache. He was checked by a trainer after pointing toward his head several times earlier in the plate appearance.
The 20-year-old player sat out Friday night’s game with the Twins.
“Much better,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He got in at, like, 10 a.m., got checked out by our doctors. Slept well, ate well last night, ate well this morning. We checked a lot of boxes last night when he got on the stationary bike and did some things, and no issue whatsoever.”
Cash said the cause of the headache has not been determined. Franco was tagged out by Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez trying to score from third on a grounder Wednesday night.
“It could have been a number of things,” Cash said. “Sometimes you just have some headaches that pop up.”