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PULASKI -- The pain is not quite constant, but it's there often enough and with enough intensity to potentially ruin Paul Franko's summer.

That is, if he let it.

But when he decided to put off surgery and play despite a sports hernia, Franko committed himself to a stoic second season with the Pulaski Blue Jays. He does what he can to assuage the pain of the torn muscle in his lower abdomen and grinds through quietly.

"Hopefully," Franko said, "I'll make it through the season. That's my goal."

P-Jays manager Dave Pano is looking for ways to give Franko more rest, but he keeps writing him into the lineup at first base -- because he never complains, because there are few other options and because, heck, the guy still is one of the team's best hitters.

Franko isn't entirely happy with his production -- "I'm not swinging as well as I should," he said -- but his numbers are solid across the board, though the injury has robbed him of much of the power he showed last season.

Through Wednesday's games, Franko was hitting .319 with a .407 on-base percentage. His bat in the heart of the order, often in the cleanup spot, has been a major reason Pulaski (18-8) is tied for the best record in the Appalachian League.

But after hitting eight home runs last summer, he has yet to hit one this season. His slugging percentage has dropped from .517 to .391.

"That injury has definitely affected him," Pano said. "But you know, I give him credit, man. He never complains about it. He plays through it every day. He knows he's going to have to get it fixed at the end of the season, but right now he's just playing through it."

Drafted but not signed by the Toronto Blue Jays two years ago, Franko played another season as a corner infielder at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College and signed as a free agent after slipping through the 2005 draft.

At 6 feet, 195 pounds, he isn't big by power-hitter standards, but last year only Jacob Butler, a touted outfielder playing this summer at Class A, put up better numbers for Pulaski.

In addition to the power numbers, Franko ranked among team and league leaders with a .301 average, 44 RBIs, 91 total bases and a .392 on-base percentage in 49 games.

This spring, though, he tore a muscle in his abdomen. He needed surgery, but it could wait. He figured he couldn't risk missing a full summer of baseball, not at this early stage of his career.

Franko, 22, returned for a second season at Pulaski, where they had the same entrance music for him -- "Semi-Charmed Life," the 1997 hit by his favorite band, Third Eye Blind -- but, to his chagrin, a No. 15 jersey instead of his old No. 23.

He'll sit out if Pano wants to use Josh Lex at first base, but he doesn't ask out.

"He's tough, man," said Clayton McCullough, the team's new hitting coach. "He wants to play out the season, and ... you know, it's nice to put a [veteran] guy like that in the middle of your batting order. ... We just tell the training staff to try to keep us posted if anything changes."

Franko also has played "exceptional" defense, Pano said, a marked improvement from last season.

About the only thing he doesn't do at a high rate is walk -- six walks and 14 strikeouts this season after a 25:43 ratio last year. But though the Toronto organization values plate discipline highly, it is not blind to all else.

"We try to push that on all the guys, but we also don't want to take his aggressiveness away when he's a middle-of-the-lineup guy," Pano said. "It's kind of a catch-22 situation. He's just going to need to be careful chasing pitches."

The organizational powers-that-be are pleased so far.

"I know they like him," Pano said. "I know they like the way he swings the bat. I think Paul's going to do fine."