Don’t sleep on the Yankees Trenton Thunder pitcher who is lighting up the mound right now, Erik Swanson.
Justus Sheffield, Dillon Tate, and Domingo Acevedo are three names you should be familiar with. These are three pitching prospects at Double-A Trenton that rank 3rd, 9th and 11th in the Yankees farm system.
But who is Erik Swanson? He is someone that does not even round out the Yankees top 30 prospects. Yet, he is someone who currently leads the Trenton Thunder in all pitching categories.
Through 13 IP (2 starts), Swanson has a 3-0 record while posting a 0.66 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP and 19 Ks across 13.2 IP.
Swanson has put together two very impressive starts since coming on in relief of Domingo Acevedo on opening day. In that game, he picked up the Win after tossing a scoreless 3.2IP, while surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out six.
So how did 2014, eighth round, Texas Rangers Draft pick out of Iowa Western Community College make his way to the Yankees? Remember when the Yankees became sellers at the trade deadline in 2016? Yep, he was acquired at the time Cashman and company shipped Carlos Beltran to the Rangers.
While we are talking about a small sample size this season, let’s take a look at Swanson’s numbers in his full first season last year with the Tampa Yankees.
20 GS, 7-3 Record, 3.95 ERA, and 84Ks across 100.1 IP.
These may not be stellar numbers, but how many pitchers are lights out when in A+ ball? It’s about development and progress at that stage. Swanson is doing just that with his above-average fastball while improving upon his out pitch, his slider, and a changeup that is looking better and better each outing.
As of now, it looks like the Yankees organization plans to continue to stretch Swanson out as a starter. However, if that doesn’t pan out, having another Chad Green maturing on the farm could prove just as valuable.
Can you imagine if “Erik Swanson”, someone we never heard about during the Brian Cashman/Hal Steinbrenner 2016 fire sale ends up being of part of the Baby Bombers movement in the near future?
I can.