Yesterday, the Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle for two pitchers.
One of those pitchers is Erik Swanson. The 29-year-old right-handed reliever just completed his fourth major league season, all with the Mariners. This year, in 53.2 innings of work, he maintained an average of 1.68, while allowing only three home runs. He’s also excellent at striking out batters: in 2022, he struck out 70 batters. With a salary of $1.6 million and three years in control, the Blue Jays saved a good amount in this trade.
Who is this reliever?
Swanson started his career as a starting pitcher, and after some tough times, he became a reliever in 2020 and continued to improve from season to season. Swanson’s potential could be very interesting for the Blue Jays.
Swanson’s throws are said by some to be similar to Kevin Gausman’s, albeit less successful.
Swanson, although 29, is still in his early days as a reliever. He can still improve greatly, especially when throwing slingshots.
When asked about him, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins believes his fastball is better than average and his slippery ball is also slightly better than average. This combo makes him very good against right-handed hitters and still very good against left-handers.
The Jays needed such a pitcher in their bullpen.
