Mike Schmidt lesson: Phillies should be patient with Maikel Franco | Marcus Hayes

The 24-year-old Phillies third baseman didn't know what was wrong.

He'd had a lot of early success, but now, after more than 300 games, he couldn't find his swing. He was coached and counseled. Pitchers pitched to his weaknesses, but he could not resist. He worked on this, he worked on that, but nothing worked.

Then, suddenly, it clicked again … for Mike Schmidt.

Maybe it's clicking again for 24-year-old Maikel Franco. Maybe like Schmidt, who occasionally gives Franco advice, Franco is finding himself. The trade deadline is approaching. Franco is making a strong case to stay. There was a time when players such as Franco were given longer auditions.

In the afterglow of a Hall of Fame career, a World Series championship and three MVP awards, it's easy to forget that, early on, Schmitty was … not always pretty.

He made the all-star team in 1974, his second full season, but the last few weeks of 1974 and the first half of 1975 were dark times. After 392 major-league games, he was hitting .242 with 71 home runs, 218 RBI and 387 strikeouts.

Franco, believe it or not, compares well. After 337 games, through Wednesday's win in Miami,  he was hitting .252 with 53 home runs, 195 RBI and just 219 strikeouts. But those numbers mostly reflected his first two full seasons. Ten days ago, Franco had sunk to .217 for 2017 and looked as if he needed a minor-league vacation. Maybe he just needed a breather.

In the six games since the All-Star break, he has regained form: 11-for-25 with a homer, seven RBI and just one strikeout. Just like Schmidt did in 1975.

The trick is making it stick.

The trick is, when the next slump arrives, to try everything. That way, you make sure the slump lasts days, not months. The trick is to never believe you're a completed player.

"How'd I get out of it? I can't remember," Schmidt said. "There was always some mechanic I experimented with to get out of that funk. I don't think kids today do that much. I don't think it's in their nature to change their hitting style."

Schmidt spoke about Franco just before the break. As a special instructor and an analyst for the team, as well as being the greatest Phillie of all time, Schmidt is well invested in his latest successor.

"I've talked to him about lightening up his swing. Understanding how small the parks are, and how strong he is," Schmidt said. "But I'm not telling him anything [hitting coach] Matt Stairs isn't telling him. Maikel won't trust it in games. Once they say, 'Play ball!' he reverts back to his old style: the big swing, pulling off the ball."

For the moment, at the continual urging of Stairs, Franco has changed his swing. He is keeping his hands back, keeping the bat more level, and keeping it in the zone longer, trying to hit line drives.

This is all about Franco altering Franco. He is fixed, to a degree, for now, but this episode should serve as a lesson that growth and maturation never end.

Schmidt kept evolving by watching better players.

"I don't think guys these days watch other hitters and say, 'I want to be like him.' I used to do that," Schmidt said. "I'd say, 'He keeps his hands back.' Well, I had a tendency to flinch. I'd see that maybe a guy gives in more to the pitcher with two strikes. Or maybe he's short and quick, and I'm long and hard. You can always grasp a morsel from good hitters."

Will Franco?

"Well … I think Maikel is very confident in himself. Me? I was very insecure. I wasn't sure I was ever going to be what I wanted to be. I think Maikel believes he's who he wants to be now," Schmidt said.

Schmidt wanted to be Clemente.

"It was very important to me to do all the things Roberto Clemente did. I'd think, 'If Roberto Clemente can hit that slider to right field, why can't I do that? I can't even hit it, and there he is, smoking it,' " Schmidt said. "When you get to the major leagues, what pushes you to the next level? Do you want to be a Hall of Famer? Do you want to be the best hitter in the league? Do you want to lead the league in hitting? I don't think hitters nowadays think in those terms."

Schmidt realizes that change is hard; perhaps harder for power hitters.

"You practice the changes, but you get in the batter's box and then the adrenaline kicks in," Schmidt said. "You hear that little guy in your brain that keeps trying to talk you into trying to hit a home run."

Schmidt heard that little guy from September 1974 through mid-July 1975. He led the league with 36 home runs in 1974, but he did most of his work before Labor Day. He had just four homers and hit .190 in his last 38 games.

"Maybe it was the anxiety of trying to finish the season strong," Schmidt said. "I remember being in Jarry Park in Montreal and struggling like a dog, watching that batting average tank."

Did pitchers target him? Maybe they did in 1974, when he was the linchpin of the lineup. They couldn't be bothered with him in 1975, when four teammates hit .300 or better, including Greg Luzinski, who mashed 34 homers and led the league with 120 RBI.

"Pitchers weren't caught up with me," Schmidt said.

They are caught up with Franco, especially given the rest of the Phillies' lineup. Injuries have limited Cesar Hernandez, Howie Kendrick and Aaron Altherr, three of the four best hitters. Odubel Herrera, an all-star last season, has been inconsistent.

Schmidt hit .226 with 16 home runs in the first half of 1975. He surged to .278 with 22 homers in the second half, which gave him his second straight home-run title, and never looked back.

Franco is following in his footsteps. Again.