After missing the 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Jose Franco returned to the mound in 2024 and pitched well at two levels of A-ball. With Daytona and Dayton he posted a 3.52 ERA while making 22 starts and throwing 76.2 innings with 90 strikeouts and just 26 walks during the year.

This article was first sent out to those who support the site over on Patreon. Early access is one of the perks that you could get be joining up as a Patron and supporting the work done here at RedsMinorLeagues.com.

When the 2025 season began the Cincinnati Reds sent the then 24-year-old to Double-A Chattanooga to begin his season. His first outing of the season came in relief as he tossed 2.1 shutout innings against Rocket City. Franco moved into the rotation the next week and fired off 4.0 hitless innings against Birmingham and he kept that kind of performance going for the rest of April as he finished the month allowing one earned run in 17.1 innings while striking out 24 batters and walking 10.

While April was a dominant month for the right-hander, things didn’t go as well in the first half of May. In his first three starts he allowed 10 earned runs in 10.1 innings while giving up 17 hits and walking six batters. But Franco got things going in the right direction on May 23rd when he struck out eight and allowed one run to Rocket City and he kept that good run going for the next month as he picked up a win in six consecutive outings for the Lookouts while giving up seven runs in 31.0 innings (2.03 ERA). That run ended his time in Double-A.

A promotion up to join Louisville saw Franco make his first start in St. Paul on June 28th and he picked up a win in his 7th straight outing by allowing two runs in 6.0 innings in his Triple-A debut. The next two games, though, did not go well. He failed to make it out of the 1st inning on July 3rd against Indianapolis as he allowed one earned and was charged with five more unearned runs. Six days later he allowed two earned in 0.2 innings before being removed from the game. In both outings he threw exactly 30 pitches.

While he was strong in relief four days later as he tossed 2.0 shutout innings against Columbus, he continued to struggled for the next month. In the following four outings he allowed nine earned runs and threw just 13.0 innings. Things turned around on August 10th when he threw 3.0 hitless innings against Toledo and he kept his strong performance going the rest of the season. While the Reds had limited his usage as the season went on, from the 10th of August through the end of the year he allowed just six earned runs in 29.1 innings (1.84 ERA).

For all 2025 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).

Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R

Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 257 lbs. | Acquired: International FA (2018) | Born: November 25, 2000

Fastball | An above-average pitch that works in the 93-96 MPH range and tops out at 98.

Slider | An average pitch that will sometimes look a bit more live a curve than a slider that works in the mid-80’s.

Change Up | A fringy offering that works in the upper 80’s that can be a bit firm.

In his second year back after having Tommy John surgery, Jose Franco put together a strong season in Double-A and Triple-A. The numbers were good and he was throwing harder than ever before. His performance led to the Reds adding him to the 40-man roster in early November.

While he did set a career high in innings with 110.0 of them between his two stops, he didn’t pitch more than 4.0 innings in any outing from July through the end of the year as the club limited his usage to keep him on the mound for the entire season rather than shutting him down as he blew past his previous season-high workload.

One part of the next step for the now 25-year-old will be to show that he can maintain his stuff for a full season without having the workload limited for the entirety of the second half. That is if he’s going to remain a starting pitcher. Right now his questionable change up puts that in limbo thanks in part to the Reds depth in the rotation, but also that Franco likely needs to improve that pitch if he’s going to be more than a back end of the rotation starter.

He throws plenty of strikes, but he’s more control (throws strikes) over command (hits his target in the zone). His stuff is solid, but his fastball is his only consistent pitch and without more consistency he may struggle to put big league hitters away.

If he does wind up making the move to the bullpen it could allow his stuff to play up in shorter stints and his fastball certainly has enough on it that if the breaking ball improves just a little bit he could profile well as a late-inning reliever.

Stats

Video

Interesting Stat on Jose Franco

In the first inning of his starts hitters batted .099/.284/.185 against him in 81 at-bats.