Erik Swanson

BIOGRAPHY

Erik Swanson was born on born September 4, 1993 in Terrace Park, Ohio. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Swanson attended Mariemont High School in Cincinnati, Ohio and played college baseball at Wabash Valley College and Iowa Western Community College. He earned Outstanding Pitcher honors while leading Iowa Western CC to the NJCAA Division I title in 2014. He signed with the University of Pittsburgh before he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

Swanson made his professional debut in 2014 with the Spokane Indians and he spent the whole season there, going 1–2 with a 4.63 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched out of the bullpen. He pitched 2015 with the Arizona League Rangers, Hickory Crawdads, Frisco RoughRiders and Round Rock Express, compiling a combined 1–0 record and 2.35 ERA in 15.1 innings, and started 2016 with Hickory.

On August 1, 2016, Swanson was traded with Dillon Tate and Nick Green to the New York Yankees for Carlos Beltrán. He finished that season with the Charleston RiverDogs. In 24 games here he was 7–3 with a 3.95 ERA in 20 starts and started 2018 with the Trenton Thunder. He rehabbed with the Staten Island Yankees during the year and was also promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in May. In 24 games with the three clubs, he went 8–2 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.

On November 19, 2018, the Yankees traded Swanson, Justus Sheffield, and Dom Thompson-Williams to the Seattle Mariners for James Paxton. The Mariners added him to their 40-man roster the next day. Swanson split the season between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/W-B, going 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA with 133 strikeouts and 29 walks in 22 games, posting 10.41 K/9.0 IP. He held opponents to a .204 average allowing 3-or-fewer runs in 17 of 20 starts, including 7 straight starts allowing 1-or-fewer run, April 10-May 15. During these 7 games, Swanson was 4-0 with a 0.46 ERA. Swanson opened the 2019 season with the Tacoma Rainiers. He was recalled to the major leagues for the first time on April 9, 2019. He made his major league debut on April 11, 2019, with the Seattle Mariners.

During the 2022 season, Swanson took another step forward, as he recorded a 1.68 ERA with 70 strikeouts across 53+2⁄3 innings.

On November 16, 2022, the Mariners traded Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Teoscar Hernández.