Frank Schwindel crushed pitching in Omaha, but here’s why he might not get called up

Royals minor-league first baseman Frank Schwindel ended his 2018 season with a bang.

During Omaha’s 6-5 win at New Orleans on Monday, Schwindel set a franchise record with his 38th double of the season and later had the game-winning hit in the 10th inning.

It was a big year for Schwindel, who was drafted in the 18th round of the 2013 draft and is nicknamed “Frank The Tank.”

Schwindel finished second in the Pacific Coast League in doubles and total bases (258), third in hits (146), fourth in RBIs (93) and seventh in home runs (24). Those were all team highs for Omaha.

As the Royals continue to add players to the active roster as part of September expansion — they recalled pitchers Glenn Sparkman and Jerry Vasto on Tuesday and Eric Skoglund was reinstated from the 60-day DL — fans have been clamoring on social media for Schwindel to get his shot.

There are a couple why that may not happen.

One, Schwindel is not on the 40-man roster, the prerequisite for being called up. To be added to the 40-man roster, the Royals would have to designate someone else for assignment or make a trade.

Two, the Royals have depth at first base. Ryan O’Hearn has nine home runs in his first 24 big-league games. Hunter Dozier has shifted to third base in nine of his last 11 games, during which he has hit .357 with two triples, three doubles and four home runs.

“There is a lot of competition at that position and it’s what we’re faced with,” Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo told The Star. “With him and Dozier and O’Hearn and you’ve got (Samir) Duenez behind him, so we’ve got nice depth behind him, but Frank just keeps going out and doing it and he’s doing a great job.”

This is not to say the Royals won’t call on Schwindel this month. They could make room on the 40-man roster or there could be an injury.

He’s clearly on the radar of manager Ned Yost, who mentioned Schwindel over the weekend while talking about O’Hearn.

“We saw in spring training his power,” Yost said. “He and Schwindel put on a streak there for about two weeks it seemed there.”

Schwindel led the Royals in home runs (seven) and RBIs (18) this spring while hitting .366 (15 of 41). During one stretch, Schwindel hit .765 (13 for 17) with 15 RBIs and a 2.059 slugging percentage.

That came after he batted .329 with 23 home runs and 97 RBIs in 133 games at Class AA Northwest Arkansas and Omaha in 2017. Schwindel won the Royals’ George Brett Award, which goes to the best minor-league hitter in the organization.

This season, Schwindel walked more (from 16 to 34) and struck out less (85 to 71) than in 2017.

“He’s a threat at the plate,” Picollo said. “He swings the ball well. He made some nice adjustments this year which I think makes him a little bit more of a complete hitter.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2018 at 12:37 PM.