It’s hard to do much better than that in your two months of action, eh?
After winning National League Rookie of the Month honors in August, Chicago Cubs first baseman Frank Schwindel won it again in September. Patrick Wisdom, by the way, won the award in June, so the Cubs really corned that market.
For the month, Schwindel hit a ridiculous .357/.405/.625 (171 wRC+), with 7 homers, 9 doubles, 21 RBI, and 40 hits overall. The guy finally got a real chance to play every day in the big leagues, and all he did was rake. How much that carries over into 2022, when he’ll turn 30 in June, remains to be seen. But he’s gonna get a chance to show it.
Winning the honors in back-to-back months will have to get him down-the-ball Rookie of the Year votes, right?
Consider that most assume Wisdom will get some votes – not win it, mind you (Jonathan India has it sewn up), but votes – and he’s posted a slash line much lower than Schwindel’s, and was worth 2.2 WAR to Schwindel’s 2.3. I think if I could pick only one of the two to get my third or fourth place Rookie of the Year vote, I’m going with Schwindel. He was just that good.