Erik Swanson

Erik Swanson “Swanny Pops” is a RHP for the Toronto Blue Jays. After an impressive college career at Iowa Western, Swanson's talents were recognized by the Texas Rangers, who selected him in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft. After being traded by the Rangers to the Yankees in 2016, Swanson played a few seasons in the minor leagues before being traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2018 where he would start his big league career. Swanson made his debut with Seattle in 2019. Swanson logged a career-high 57 appearances in 2022, adding three saves and 14 holds alongside his three wins. Additionally, Swanson mustered a career-best 1.68 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, while his strikeout rate shot up to a blistering 34.0 percent after previously having topped out at 24.3 percent in 2021. In the 2022 off-season, the Mariners traded Swanson to the Blue Jays where he proved his ‘22 breakout season with Seattle was no fluke. In April, Swanson posted a 4:1 strike:walk through his first 3.1 innings with the Blue Jays. Swanson joins Yimi Garcia and Tim Mayza as the main late-inning options ahead of closer Jordan Romano, and he should easily top last year's career high of 14 holds as a reliever. In June, Swanson received his first save opportunity of 2023 and came through with a scoreless inning to earn his seventh career save. Through his 6 year career in the MLB, Swanson has appeared in 240 games, recording 270 strikeouts.