Royals minor-leaguer Matt Fields’ second chance at baseball has him on cusp of majors

The dream of playing in the major leagues can seem a million miles away when you are a 6-foot-5 man stuffing yourself into a 4-foot space so you can grab luggage at an airport.

Factor in that you’d been cut from a big-league organization while at Class AA and later quit the game while playing independent ball, and yeah, the majors can seem like a pipe dream.

Matt Fields smiled as he recalled his past troubles while sitting in the Royals’ clubhouse at their spring-training home at Surprise Stadium.

“Experiencing life at this level,” Fields said, “is amazing.”

Fields isn’t a major-leaguer yet. But the Royals gave him a second chance at big-league baseball in 2012, and he’s made the most of it. He’s with the Royals as a non-roster invitee to spring training.

That means Fields is not on the 40-man roster, but he’s clearly on their radar.

“He’s got one huge tool, and it’s raw power,” Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said. “It may be the best in the organization: major league, minor leagues. He just has tremendous power.”

Fields, 29, hit 28 home runs last season at Class AAA Omaha and has 76 in 1,172 at-bats (a homer per 15.4 at-bats) since the Royals acquired him from the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League in 2012.

At that time, Fields was in his second stint with the Miners.

The first ended prematurely in 2011, when Fields retired from baseball. The year before he’d been released by the Tampa Bay Rays, who drafted him in 2005. Fields signed with the Miners, but gave up on baseball to spend time with his girlfriend.

“For me, it was a very, very tough decision, because I was battling myself,” Fields said. “I asked, ‘Am ready to do this?’ I literally had to push my first love and my dream aside. It really hurt at the time.”

For seven months, Fields handled luggage back home at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and fended off questions from coworkers about why a ballplayer was among their ranks.

“I was always a hard worker,” Fields said. “I was doing whatever I needed to do to take care of myself and my family. At the time, I thought that would bring me closer to my girlfriend at the time.”

Things ultimately didn’t work out with that relationship, and Fields’ love of the game was still burning strong. He contacted Miners manager Mike Pinto, who had a standing offer for Fields to return to Southern Illinois.

Fields, a first baseman, had played 31 games with the Miners in 2012 when Pinto summoned Fields to his office with news that the Royals had bought his contract.

When let go by the Rays, Fields came to a difficult realization: he had become complacent. Took his baseball skills for granted. He vowed to work harder.

In the Royals’ system, Fields immediately began mashing.

Assigned to Class A Wilmington, Fields hit 17 homers in half a season. The Blue Rocks’ record is 22, but Fields never got an opportunity to break the mark. He was in Class AA Northwest Arkansas the following season and clubbed 31 homers.

Last year, he helped Omaha win the Class AAA national championship, hitting .262 with an .840 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. However, he struck out 156 times.

“He’s a guy who we don’t worry a whole lot about strikeouts,” Picollo said. “It’s just going to be part of his DNA. His power, his RBIs, he’s knocking in runs, he’s going to have some strikeouts in there, but at the same time, he’s shown an ability to get on base other than just the home run.”

Royals officials have been pleased with how Fields has handled himself in his first spring-training camp with the big-league club.

Just getting on a 40-man roster is a huge step, but Fields believes in himself.

“I can definitely hit in the big leagues,” he said. “Most of the guys you see (in Class AAA) have been in the big leagues or are trying to get there as well.”

No matter what happens, Fields has not doubted his decision to return to baseball. He played last season at a higher minor-league level than when he was cut by the Rays five years ago.

Fields is married now, tying the knot with his wife, Elizabeth, at Werner Park in Omaha. After briefly pushing baseball out of his life, he’s enveloped himself in the game.

And he’s never been happier.

“I’m just trying to take it in while it lasts and have fun with it,” he said. “My wife tells me to know you’re blessed. She says to live everyday knowing that no matter what happens I love you, your family loves and the Lord loves you, so don’t put any pressure on yourself — no matter what happens.

“Have fun playing the game, and when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. You tried and did your best every day in what you did. That’s how I feel about it.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Royals minor-leaguer Matt Fields’ second chance at baseball has him on cusp of majors."