Erik Swanson

Erik Swanson

29-Year-Old PitcherRP
Toronto Blue Jays
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Swanson emerged as one of the league's best setup men, compiling a 1.68 ERA (2.15 SIERA), 0.91 WHIP and 70:10 K:BB ratio over 53.2 innings. The right-hander improved his strikeout rate by nearly 10 percent and he finished fifth among qualfied relievers with a 29.5% K-BB%. Swanson's fastball-splitter combination was devastating to opposing hitters, as his 73.6% in-zone contact percentage was 4th-best among relief pitchers despite losing 1.1 mph on his 4-seamer (93.6 mph). The contact he did give up wasn't hard, as his 85 mph average exit velocity was a 98th percentile ranking. Swanson's high-leverage role is secure in Toronto, who thought enough of the reliever to trade Teoscar Hernandez for his services. While his path to saves is just as cloudy as it was in Seattle, he's still worth drafting in deeper mixed and AL-only leagues for ratio stability. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#555
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Mariners in March of 2022. Traded to the Blue Jays in November of 2022.
Sent to Toronto
PToronto Blue Jays
November 16, 2022
The Blue Jays acquired Swanson and left-hander Adam Macko from the Mariners on Wednesday in exchange for outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Swanson quietly emerged as one of the majors' top setup men in 2022, finishing with a 1.68 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 70:10 K:BB across 53.2 innings for Seattle while nabbing three wins, three saves and 14 holds. In Toronto, Swanson will face a more blocked path to the ninth-inning role with incumbent closer Jordan Romano coming off his first All-Star campaign. Swanson should at least remain a solid late-round target in deeper mixed and AL-only leagues for fantasy managers looking for stability in the ratio categories.
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Pitching Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
15
Last 10 Games
15
Last 5 Games
16
How many pitches does Erik Swanson generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Erik Swanson generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
 
 
-7%
BAA vs RHP
2022
 
 
-2%
BAA vs LHP
2021
 
 
-18%
BAA vs RHP
2020
 
 
-6%
BAA vs RHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2020vs Left .226 196 64 8 42 10 0 5
Since 2020vs Right .211 191 50 14 36 4 3 6
2022vs Left .200 109 43 3 21 7 0 1
2022vs Right .205 97 27 7 18 1 0 2
2021vs Left .234 69 16 5 15 2 0 3
2021vs Right .191 75 19 5 13 2 3 2
2020vs Left .353 18 5 0 6 1 0 1
2020vs Right .333 19 4 2 5 1 0 2
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
 
 
-50%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-55%
ERA at Home
2021
 
 
-8%
ERA at Home
2020
 
 
-71%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2020Home 2.19 0.81 53.1 2 2 3 11.3 1.4 1.0
Since 2020Away 4.36 1.32 43.1 1 5 1 9.8 2.9 1.0
2022Home 1.13 0.69 32.0 2 0 2 12.4 0.8 0.8
2022Away 2.49 1.25 21.2 1 2 1 10.8 2.9 0.0
2021Home 3.18 1.00 17.0 0 2 1 9.5 2.1 0.5
2021Away 3.44 1.15 18.1 0 1 0 8.3 2.9 2.0
2020Home 6.23 0.92 4.1 0 0 0 10.4 2.1 4.2
2020Away 21.60 2.70 3.1 0 2 0 10.8 2.7 2.7
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Erik Swanson compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
7.00
 
K/9
11.7
 
BB/9
1.7
 
HR/9
0.5
 
Fastball
93.7 mph
 
ERA
1.68
 
WHIP
0.91
 
BABIP
.307
 
GB/FB
0.79
 
Left On Base
84.8%
 
Exit Velocity
78.4 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
2.8%
 
Spin Rate
1985 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
16.1%
 
Swinging Strike
15.8%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2021
2020
2019
Swanson made his big-league debut in 2019 and has since appeared in 36 games, including eight starts. The results have been poor, as he's surrendered a 6.58 ERA due in large part to a 2.7 HR/9. As implied by each of those numbers, hitters have not had a difficult time squaring up Swanson's offerings as he's surrendered a 12.8% barrel late, which has led to a .539 xSLG. In order for things to improve, Swanson will need to diversify his arsenal and trust more in his secondary pitches. In 2020, he threw his fastball 74.5% of the time, and a similar 67.7% rate in 2019. Despite working through the Yankees' and Mariners' minor-league systems primarily as a starter, it's difficult to foresee him getting another extended chance in the rotation until he expands his arsenal and his results improve. Heading into his age-27 season, those things appear unlikely to occur.
Among the three prospects acquired from the Yankees for James Paxton, Swanson played the largest role for Seattle in 2019, tossing 58 innings over 27 appearances. The right-hander scuffled in eight starts, compiling a 7.56 ERA and .277 BAA, but fared much better as a reliever, posting a .191 BAA and a respectable 3.28 ERA in 19 outings. Armed with a three-pitch arsenal centered around a 93-mph fastball, Swanson demonstrated solid strikeout ability throughout his minor-league career and translated that to a decent 21.2 K% in the majors. He also excelled at limiting walks, posting a 4.9 BB% that ranked in the top 10% among pitchers who threw 50-plus innings. Swanson's primary struggle was keeping the ball in the park; he gave up a 2.6 HR/9, fifth-worst in the league. Spring training will be important for Swanson in 2020 as he could conceivably emerge as a starter or reliever or head back to the minors.
Acquired from New York in the James Paxton trade, Swanson will likely use a lot of his bullets at the big-league level this upcoming season. He split his 2018 between the Yankees' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, throwing 42.2 innings with Trenton and 72.1 frames with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The right-hander fared well at the highest level of the minor leagues, posting a 22.0 K-BB% and just a 17.9% line-drive rate. The numbers are less impressive when considering he was 24 years old, but the point is that he passed that last test and appears ready to graduate. Swanson is mostly a two-pitch guy (fastball/slider) and long term he may be better off as a multi-inning reliever, but it would make sense for the rebuilding Mariners to give him a chance to start in 2019. They will need rotation reinforcements when injuries inevitably hit.
More Fantasy News
Grabs third win to close out season
PSeattle Mariners
October 6, 2022
Swanson (3-2) earned the victory over the Tigers on Wednesday, firing a perfect ninth inning during which he recorded two strikeouts.
ANALYSIS
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Takes second loss Sunday
PSeattle Mariners
September 26, 2022
Swanson (2-2) took the loss against the Royals on Sunday, allowing two runs on three hits over one-third of an inning.
ANALYSIS
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Allows two runs in loss
PSeattle Mariners
September 22, 2022
Swanson (2-1) took the loss Wednesday against the Athletics. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk without recording an out.
ANALYSIS
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Continues dominance Saturday
PSeattle Mariners
September 11, 2022
Swanson, who notched his 13th hold with a perfect eighth inning in a win over Atlanta on Saturday, has pitched to a 2-0 record, 0.95 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with two saves and seven holds in the 19 innings he's logged since the All-Star break.
ANALYSIS
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Snags save Saturday
PSeattle Mariners
August 6, 2022
Swanson pitched a perfect inning and picked up his third save of the season in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Angels. He struck out one.
ANALYSIS
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