Frank Schwindel's 'dummy pop' no longer flying under radar at Royals' spring training
In the moments after Danny Duffy finished dissecting his latest start, the Royals' left-handed pitcher spared six words on Sunday afternoon to lavish praise on Frank Schwindel.
“He’s got some dummy pop, man,” Duffy said.
Like many around the Royals the last 10 days, Duffy was awestruck by the work Schwindel, recently named the winner of the Royals’ George Brett Award given to the best minor-league hitter in the organization, has done with his bat. For a handful of games, Schwindel was overshadowed by Mike Moustakas’ return to the lineup and an overall power surge that saw the Royals club 24 homers in eight games from March 13-20.
But after logging four hits, including his sixth homer since March 12, against the Indians on Wednesday night, Schwindel’s name stood out on the scorecard.
The first baseman ended the night on a 13-for-17 tear, during which he amassed a slugging percentage of 2.059 and 15 RBIs. He went from being mired in a 1-for-20 slump to totaling 35 bases and tying Salvador Perez and Jorge Soler’s majors-leading home run total — six players in all of baseball have hit six — in 17 at-bats.
Dummy pop.
“They’re legit (homers),” manager Ned Yost. “It’s not fluky-type stuff.”
And it’s not a bad way for the 25-year-old minor-leaguer, who has always flown under the radar, to make himself known in the big leagues.
For the first time since being selected in the 18th round of the 2013 draft, Schwindel received a non-roster invite to major-league camp this spring. He’d earned it after a 2017 season in which he hit 23 home runs, doubled 43 times and drove in 97 runs between stops at Class AA Northwest Arkansas and Class AAA Omaha. When he finished the season in Omaha, he looked up to find he had hit .321 with a .340 on-base percentage and .528 slugging percentage in his first foray into the Pacific Coast League.
It was his best campaign since he hit .280 with 75 RBIs and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .809 in 118 games in 2014.
And the hot streak didn’t stop in the offseason. Schwindel traveled to the Dominican Republic and slugged .463 with 21 RBIs, nine doubles and three home runs in 30 winter-league games.
In fact, it wasn’t until after his first Cactus League at-bat this spring that Schwindel fell into a prolonged slump. Even as he worked with coaches, he was held hitless for 19 straight at-bats.
Schwindel felt pressured. Surrounded regularly by accomplished hitters, he wanted to prove he belonged. He observed how Perez and Alex Gordon approached their work in the weight room and made mental notes. He picked up tricks in the batting cage and started swinging more relaxed during practice to leave energy in the tank for games.
The more he worked, the more comfortable he felt. He started seeing the ball better. He focused on using the whole field, not just yanking the ball to the left side.
Then he led off the seventh inning of last Monday’s doubleheader and cranked a 1-2 offering from Rangers pitcher David Hurlburt into the concourse at Surprise Stadium for a homer.
He’s hardly been stopped since.
Not even Carlos Carrasco, the Indians pitcher Schwindel took yard on Wednesday, could beat the streak.
“It’s been a lot of fun this past week, showing some people that I can hit,” Schwindel said, pausing to chuckle. “But I've just got to keep it going and just have fun with it.”
As spring training comes to a close, Schwindel finally feels some relief.
Now it's on to next thing.
“Just make it to the big leagues no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes or how long I’m up there,” he said. “Just get there and get a taste of it.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Frank Schwindel's 'dummy pop' no longer flying under radar at Royals' spring training."