MLB first-round pick Jeff Francoeur talks fatherhood in youth sports, Pete Rose, potential baseball lockout

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and the ‘Gutfeld!’ panel consider the ‘Trump effect’ on Major League Baseball reinstating Pete Rose.

Jeff Francoeur, in his own words, "know[s] baseball backwards and forwards."

A former first-round pick once dubbed "The Natural," Francoeur is now an analyst for his former Atlanta Braves while doubling up as a dad to athletes.

An expert of the game, it would be easy for him to take charge of his children's ball games. But he wants to let his kids be kids.

"Take the parents out of [youth sports] and the kids usually have a great time," Francoeur told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "I coach a 12U travel softball team for my daughter – all the parents think their kid should be hitting third, playing here, being this. If you took all the parents out and asked those girls to make a batting order, I bet you they can do a pretty good job of making what the batting order should be."

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Jeff Francoeur (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

Francoeur knows that there are a ton of parents out there who choose to live vicariously through their kids when it comes to athletics (he even admitted he can "get carried away"), and he's not afraid to put those parents to the test.

"The first question I ask a lot of parents is, ‘What do you want out of sports for your kids?’ My mom and dad wanted me to learn to be a great teammate, how to have [a] work ethic, overcome adversity," he added. "Parents now, there are still plenty that look at it like that, but so many look at it as a ‘win at all costs’ at such a young age. [Former Braves pitcher John Smoltz] said it best on the podcast. He said, ‘I wish there were more coaches that have the balls to worry about