Back in the day, Schwinn was synonymous with bicycles the way you say Google when you have a question. So yeah, I’d be pedaling my Schwinn to my buddy’s house, then he’d hop on his Schwinn and we’d round up the whole crew and go Schwinning around town. Think of the streets of Los Angeles flooded with Teslas. That’s how it was back in the day. One day, I was pedaling my Schwinn then decided to try and peddle my Schwinn. English is freaking unnecessarily difficult at times, no? Anyways, many of us have been pedaling one Frank Schwindel of the Chicago Cubs, as he’s been en fuego, slashing .315/.360/.608 with a .292 ISO, and nine home runs in 139 plate appearances. As a result, he’s been added in 9.5% of ESPN leagues. So am I here to peddle Schwindel to you? Let’s find out.
Schwindel is 29 years old, 6-foot-1, and 215 pounds. The Royals selected him in the 18th round of the 2013 MLB draft. He stayed in the minor league system until 2019 when he was released then picked up by the Tigers. The Athletics signed him the following year then the Cubs claimed him off waivers this past July.
Throughout his minor league career, he was never much of a walker but didn’t strike out often either. The strikeout rate exceeded 20% only two times. The power was always there, though, as he clubbed at least 20 home runs three times and often had an ISO above .200.
He did get a glimpse of The Show back in 2019 with the Royals. It was only 15 plate appearances and he didn’t do much.
This time, though, it’s been a completely different story. I mentioned the slash in the opening and the walk rate is 6.5% while the strikeout rate is 20.1%. With the nine home runs, he has scored 21 runs and driven in 26. He was named NL Rookie of the Month for his exploits. Let’s dig in to see if it’s real.
The BABIP is .344 so he’s had some good fortune. He didn’t exhibit a high BABIP in the minors so expect that number to come down. Steamer has him projected for a .281 number.
The Statcast numbers look lovely. The average exit velocity is 89.7 mph while the max is 112.5. The launch angle is 15.7 degrees while the hard-hit rate is 42.2%.
The line drive rate is 20.6% while the fly ball rate is 43.1%. He’s pulling the ball 41.2% of the time and going oppo 20.6%. Outside of the elevated BABIP number, things look juicy so far.
Let’s get to the plate discipline numbers, which is where I love to live. The swinging-strike rate is 13.1%. That puts him in the top 40 but it’s not an egregious rate like the 22.4% for Javier Baez. The contact rates are very good: 89.6% in the zone and 74.9% in general. The big bugaboo is the 40.6% chase rate. That would put him in the top 10 if he qualified. That said, he’s in some nice company with the likes of Salvador Perez, Nick Castellanos, Tim Anderson, and Bo Bichette. No risk it no biscuit, right?
Looking at the splits, he’s been good against righties with a .289/.304/.533 slash and .244 ISO. He’s been Ruthian against lefties, though, as the slash is .375/.468/.775 with a .400 ISO.
I always want to see how a batter adjusts to the adjustments. Pitchers always check out bat speed and ability to handle the heat when a batter first gets to the majors. For Schwindel, he was seeing over 60% fastballs in July. In August, that number went down to 53.46%, according to Brooks Baseball. So far in September, he’s seen 30.95% fastballs. Every step of the way, Schwindel has raked.
Eventually, teams are going to figure out a way to attack Schwindel. It’s only a matter of time. Struggles will come and the good fortune won’t last forever. That said, there’s only a month left in the season and there’s a chance that time won’t come until next year. Outside of the chase rate, I like what I see from Schwindel and he’s batting second in the lineup for the Cubs.
Ride the wave because there’s a chance this heater continues. If teams and pitchers are able to figure out how to attack him, then it’s an easy drop. TREASURE
