Promotion to the Saints is a Homecoming for Hitting Coach Shawn Schlechter

Shawn Schlecter spent a long time in Mason City, Iowa, playing and coaching with the NIACC Trojans from 2013 to 2019. Over those years, he didn’t have a clear idea of where his path would lead him.

Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The minor-league season was canceled for all levels of affiliates. But where so many opportunities were lost for players, one opened for Schlecter with his hometown team, the Minnesota Twins: to join their player development staff and Play Ball! Minnesota.

Schlechter is a 2009 graduate of Burnsville High School, who grew up in the days of Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, and "the M&M Boys" tearing up the Metrodome. Now, as a coach for the next generation of Twins on the doorstep of making the majors, he’s excited for the new role within the organization. 

“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Schlechter. “From growing up watching Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, and LaTroy Hawkins, some of those guys that I now get to share a clubhouse in with Spring Training. To now be able to help these guys supplement their careers has been a great experience and sometimes I have to pinch myself to come back to reality because it does seem like a dream at times.”

The promotion has been a welcome opportunity for Schlechter to continue coaching many of the Twins prospects he’s worked with the last three seasons, including Anthony Prato, Yunior Severino, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. among others. In addition to that, he also gets to coach alongside the son of former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, Toby Gardenhire 

“Schlech’s been great,” said Gardenhire. “He was down there with my buddy Brian Dinkelman at A-ball, he did a great job [there] and did a great job last year in Double-A. He deserves to be up here and I’m excited to see what he can bring to our hitters up here in St. Paul.”

While it’s still very early in the season, Schlechter has brought a great deal of help to the Saints offense, which outscored the opposing Columbus Clippers 13-5 in their short two-game series at CHS Field to open the 2024 season. Of the 11 hitters whp appeared in those two games, nine had previously been coached by Schlechter before he was promoted to St. Paul. 

The promotion alongside all these players he’s coached is just one of many things that Schlechter says has helped the Saints clubhouse as they settle into the new season. 

“What we do well is building those relationships. Many of these guys have been on my roster before, whether it was Wichita or Cedar Rapids. We’ve built that out and it’s a better understanding of what makes them click and how they work through some of those ups and downs.” 

One player who made the move from Wichita to St. Paul alongside Schlechter is Yoyner Fajardo. Fajardo has been the star over the Saints' first two games, going 3-for-9 to start the year. He crushed a three-run homer in his Triple-A debut Saturday and had the walk-off hit for the Saints' 5-4 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Sunday.

“We have a good relationship,” said Fajardo through his teammate Jair Carmargo, who translated on his behalf. “He helped me a lot using the reports, he opened my mind to what I am looking for and all that. So I have learned a lot from him on how to break down the reports to myself the best I can and how I can translate those numbers at the plate.” 

And Schlechter has been all the more impressed with the quick success he’s seen from the 25-year-old outfielder.

“He’s a guy who is always going to give you competitive at-bats. We knew that even with that left-on-left matchup, that he was a guy who could create some action by putting the ball in play. In those situations, we trust he’s going to grind out at-bats,” Schlechter said following Fajardo’s walk-off hit. 

Another player who has spent a full season coached by Schlechter and had success on day one in Triple-A was Alex Isola. Isola wasted no time to get his first home run with the Saints, smacking a three-run shot in his first at-bat on Saturday. He didn’t have a hit the rest of the weekend, but that moment left an impression in the clubhouse.

“He’s hit his whole career. It was no surprise to see that out of the gate,” Schlechter said.

“I think it helps out a lot when you have a chance to come up through the system and you know the guys before you get them here. It definitely helps out with the familiarity,” said Gardenhire. 

One of the new hitters Schlechter worked with this Spring Training was Austin Martin. The duo missed the opportunity to work together during a game to start the season, as Martin was called up to the Twins on March 30. Both Shclechter and Martin said prior to his call-up, that their relationship was built on a foundation of trusting each other’s strengths when guiding Martin’s hitting.

“Working with him this spring, I love him,” Martin said. “I think he’s a great guy and I think we’ll be able to get a lot of work done here. I think he’s still trying to figure me out, like understand my routines, how I think in the box, how I operate, stuff like that. Right now he’s just watching me, kind of letting me go, and if he has anything for me I am sure he’ll let me know.”

Even with the promotion to the Twins and the challenges that will come with facing big-league pitching, Schlechter remains confident in Martin’s abilities.

“I think he knows his superpower, and we know his superpower is controlling the zone, making good hitting decisions, and hitting line drives all over the field,” he said. “Which is something I think he has gotten back to--just being able to know his plan and approach and sticking to it and committing to it, and being intentional when he steps in the box.”

All in all, the best thing for Schlechter and his return to the North Star State full-time time has been the simplest: being able to see friends and family more frequently during the Saints' homestands.

“Those connections are important. I have four siblings here, three brothers and a sister, and five nephews and a niece here. So just being able to see their faces more often will be good, it will definitely help fill my cup on the personal side.” 

With one of the best work/life balances any Minnesotan minor-league coach can have, Schlechter cannot wait to have his most fun season in the Twins organization, coaching his hitters to the majors and building more memories with his friends and family--ones he's earned the right, in a funny way, to see every day.