MAKING THE SWITCH: Biscuits' Frank makes most of swapping sides of the plate

Biscuits second baseman Tyler Frank has moved from the right side of the plate to the left and made the most of the change. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

After three surgeries and almost three years away from baseball, Tyler Frank needed a change.

In the fall of 2021, he went through off-season workouts with the Rays’ organization as a left-handed hitter after spending the first 24 years of his life batting from the other side of the plate.

“This is absolutely incredible,” Biscuits manager Morgan Ensberg said, “that he’s able to put together competitive at-bats having been right handed his entire life.” 

Frank’s story is one of perseverance and determination, an All-American success story for a former All-American who never gave up on his dream of playing Major League Baseball. 

He was drafted with the 56th overall pick by the Rays in 2018 after completing his junior year at Florida Atlantic. The consensus All-American was second all-time in walks (120) and doubles (43) for the Owls and had earned all-conference honors the past two seasons, including 2018 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year. The shortstop had a .307 career batting average and had slugged 25 home runs in his three years of college.

He went to Hudson Valley for some work in Single A ball that summer, batting .288. When he returned in the spring to play at Port Charlotte, a twinge in his left shoulder sidelined him after just 16 games. 

“It was all front-side shoulder hitting,” Frank said. “The offseason of 2019, I started feeling it a little and tried to battle through it. It just progressively kept getting worse.”

First, he underwent labrum surgery, costing him the remainder of the 2019 season. When the pain persisted, he underwent shoulder capsule surgery in 2020, a more intensive surgery to correct shoulder instability. Finally, in 2021, a third surgery was suggested to solve the problem, but it failed as well.

“Every time I got to the end of my rehab, the pain kind of showed itself again,” Frank said. “I was almost at the end of the rehab, coming into 2020, and I kind of knew I still had something going on and it wasn’t right. COVID was terrible throughout the world, but it was a blessing in disguise for me because I was able to get the surgery that I thought I needed again and not miss any time.”

But, as he soon discovered, that didn’t correct the problems, either. A third surgery, biceps tenodesis, would detach his biceps tendon from the labrum and move the tendon to the upper arm bone. He would miss all of 2021 with surgery and rehabilitation. 

“After number three, it just came to a point where we tried so many things and so many things didn’t work,” he said. “The options of what it could be seemed so slim. We definitely didn’t want to do (surgery) number four and sit out another year. What if this one doesn’t work? Then you’re really looking at a tough situation. It was pretty much my dad’s idea.”

His father Donald suggested he try batting left handed, since the pain was on his front-side shoulder and would be reduced by flipping to the other side of the plate. He put in a call to former Rays’ minor league manager Michael Johns, who was the organization’s minor league field coordinator.

“(My father) said you should call the Rays and tell them you can do it left handed,” Frank said. “I thought it was pretty crazy at first, I’m not going to lie to you, but I called Michael Johns and he fully supported it. He said if I thought I could do it, he thinks it’s a great idea.”

After three surgeries and three years away from baseball, Frank would now face the biggest challenge of his life as far as baseball was concerned but his family would not accept failure as an option.

“It was a tough road, for sure,” he said. “The one thing I always leaned on was my support system, my family. I have an amazing support system. Mom, dad, brother, sister, girlfriend, everybody had a piece in it and I’m so thankful for it. That’s the main reason I’m here today, still playing.”

He calls the Tampa Bay Rays his second family, another support group that was critical for his success. 

“That’s been huge,” Frank said. “They’ve supported me the entire time and I couldn’t be more thankful for them sticking by me. They’re like a second family. Everyone supported it and rallied around it and pushed me as hard as they could.”

Ensberg is a member of the Rays’ support group. 

“The guy decided to hit left handed and all of a sudden started mashing,” he said. “Incredible athlete, great player and it’s just an incredible story. This guy literally learned how to hit left handed last September.”

Frank said it wasn’t as difficult as some might think, simply because his baseball instincts kept him pointed in the right direction. 

“When you’re first taking your at-bats, it kind of brings it back to the pure form of baseball when you’re just competing.” he said. “That’s been my favorite part of this whole process. In the end, all the mechanics go out the window and you’re just trying to put that barrel on the ball and make something happen. You forget about all the other stuff and just go up there and compete.

“There were some things that came natural, that I like even more about my lefty swing. But, of course, there were those little things where you haven’t done it so you’re going to have those things that you have to adjust to.”

The adjustment hasn’t been easy. It’s his first year at Double A (an adjustment for any player) and his first full year of baseball since his junior season at Florida Atlantic in 2018. On top of that, one of the organization’s top prospects, Greg Jones, is the every day starter at shortstop, leaving Frank to fill in at the position or move to second base as he continues to look for more at-bats in his adjustment to a higher level of baseball. 

“When you look at a season, there’s always a rotation for guys to get at-bats and always injuries and some how it finds its way of evening out,” Ensberg said. “Strangely enough, at the end of the season, it always evens out. We have our projections for how many at-bats we want each guy to get and they always land above the projections.”

Frank is one of the top hitters on the team, although his .232 batting average needs to improve, he’s still working on power swings (he has no home runs) and he needs to improve on his strikeout-to-walk ratio (25-5). But at least now he’s sure of where he belongs.

“I think, at this point, I’m a left-handed hitter,” he said. “I’m going out there feeling like a left-handed hitter, going out there and trying to win ballgames every day for the team as a left-handed hitter. But baseball is always a game of adjustments, whether it’s from the right side or the left side. You’re always having that little battle of critiques and adjustments.”

Looking to extend a winning streak against Biloxi, the Biscuits continue their six-game home series tonight at Riverwalk Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. It is “Thirsty Thursday” with drink specials during the game. It is also T-shirt night with the first 1,500 fans ages 15-older receiving a free shirt with paid admission.