If you tuned into the Falls Stars game you got a sneak peek at why so many inside the Dodgers organization are so excited about 6’6 pitching prospect, Eriq Swan. Swan is long, he’s tall, and he has blistering stuff, and when he puts the whole package together he has as high of a ceiling as any pitching prospect in the organization.
Those aren’t my words, those words come directly from the folks who know way more about this than I do, as in, the ones who work with him every day.
Just Gettin’ Started
Swan grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is just South and East of Nashville, and didn’t pitch much at all until his Senior year in High School. Until then he had been a long, tall, and talented Short Stop.Â
He transitioned to being a pitcher only in College at Middle Tennessee State after flashing elite arm talent and finished his career in position to get drafted, something that happened. The Dodgers, as they always do in situations like this, focused on Swan’s potential and drafted him as a 4th-round Compensatory pick in the 2023 Draft.
Here’s what Swan had to say about that process.
I think I probably logged maybe 5 innings until my Senior year, and they were all coming off of Short Stop. I originally went to Middle Tennessee as a 2-way, and they wanted me as a Short Stop. They had shown up to one of the games where I randomly came into a game to pitch and threw like a 1 hitter, and at that time I was probably throwing 88-90, maybe. But they told me they wanted me to do both.
The ERA didn’t jump off the charts at MTSU, but the trackman data did, so Swan had a pretty good idea that he was going to get drafted. And, it was always a goal of his, and he went to College with the goal of getting drafted.Â
I knew that the biggest thing that everyone needed to see was the potential part of it. I’m still kind of in the infancy part of my pitching career, so, especially in College there was a lot of learning that needed to be done. I was just trying to get it out there that I was trying to learn and here’s what I got now, but I’m willing to learn what I need to do to get better at this. And, hopefully that’s happened.
And it definitely has started to happen despite the fact that he’s had to fight some very frustrating injuries. After his first outing of this past season (2024), his first full season as a professional, he was forced to be sidelined due to an oblique injury, then, upon returning from that injury he pushed things a little too hard and then hurt his shoulder.Â
Frustrating, no doubt, but he finally got past all of it and started developing momentum towards the end of the season.
Here’s what he had to say about that whole situation
The Oblique thing was to start the year and it was really off-putting because it happened after my first outing, which was good. I woke up the next day and was so stiff I couldn’t do anything, we figured out it was the oblique and that took some time.Â
Swan continued
Once we got that figured out really the only problem I had with the shoulder was that I was so excited to come back I rushed things and that was completely on me because they wanted me to take my time. But, I was like, man, I can’t miss any more time and I want to throw.Â
On how he moved past the injuries
Towards the end of the year, we got all that figured out, and it was finally just about getting into the routine of throwing every week and being out there and letting my body adapt to that. By the end of the year I felt great!
What’s in the Bag?
Pitch Mix: Swan features a 4-seam that has touched 103 MPH, a cutter, and a slider that are very similar, a sweeper and a curveball. His cutter is 88-92 and his slider is more of the “gyro” bullet-type slider with tight spin.
Sweeper: He also features a sweeper that he throws in the low 80s and it’s his main “swing and miss” pitch. He learned it in the Cape and it was natural for him basically from the first time he threw the pitch.
Change Up: Swan throws a circle change and says that he tries to throw it as hard as he can and just lets the grip do the work. He grips the pitch with only his ring finger and doesn’t focus on pronating through the pitch. Instead, he lets the grip do the work in terms of creating movement.
Curve Ball: Swan is in the process of developing a curve ball. His fastball is so good at the top of the zone, it makes hitters have to jump at it pretty early, so, to have a curveball to play off of that would be a good addition. Also, if he could develop into a pitch where he could steal strikes it would only make his fastball better.
Rolodex
Swan is definitely one you want to put in your Rolodex, then keep checking back in on the execution piece as he continues to move his way through the system. As with all young power pitchers, once the execution matches the raw stuff, potential starts turning into results, and they’re usually dominant. Swan squarely has the potential to follow that path.
He’s made a lot of adjustments since becoming a Dodger. He’s always had the velo, so much of the work has been on creating consistency. Dodgers fans should be super pumped to watch how this fireballer continues to develop.
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