What has been the baseball life story of Chris Swauger?

I started playing baseball when I was 4 years old. My step-dad, Jim Parrish, got me started and coached me until high school. I played 4 years at Tampa Jesuit High School for Coach John Crumbley, making it to two State Finals. I accepted a scholarship to play at the Citadel and played out my four years there. I was lucky enough to get selected by the Cardinals in the 26th round after my senior year and played my first summer of professional baseball in Batavia.

Why did you choose to go to The Citadel?

I chose the Citadel because I felt going there gave me the best chance to succeed in baseball and life. I earned an academic scholarship that covered all my expenses, which pretty much made my decision for me. In hindsight, it was the best decision I could have ever made. While it was not always the greatest place to be at because of the military aspect of the school, it has become a great place to be from. The intangible lessons I learned there were as valuable as the classes I took. Another big reason I went to The Citadel was the chance to play as a freshman. From the day I stepped (or marched) on campus I was a starter and it stayed that way until the last game I played. No other school promised me that kind of opportunity. I’m glad I took that opportunity.

Congrats on winning the NY-Penn League championship. What was that experience like for you?

Winning the NYPL championship was by far the best experience I’ve had in 18 years playing baseball. In little league, high school, and college I was fortunate to play for many championships however my teams never could win one. Being so close so many times makes finally winning a championship that much sweeter. This team (Batavia) was as close as any I have ever been on which is strange considering the nature of professional baseball. It was a pleasure coming to the field everyday and working and playing with the players and coaches on the Muckdogs. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of dog-piling on the mound and celebrating in the locker room like you see on TV. To be a part of something like that was almost surreal and it is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

You started slow but your numbers improved dramatically as the season went on. Is there anything to which you would attribute the gains you made?

I just worked as hard as I possibly could everyday. Working with Jeff Albert, our hitting coach, I made some adjustments to my swing and when I got an opportunity my swing just clicked. It was hard to get in a rhythm at the beginning of the year because we had six outfielders and we were all splitting time. Later on in the year, I began to get comfortable with the wooden bat and my swing so my numbers improved. A lot of the credit has to go to my teammates getting on base ahead of me and putting me in position to be successful. As our team was successful later in the year, so was I.

What was your experience working with Jeff Albert like?

Jeff was the best hitting coach I have ever worked with for many reasons. He knew what he was talking about, having been a player and a background in bio-mechanics. But more than that, he took the time to learn my swing and work with me on improving it. Every day we would go to the cage and work to get my swing going for the game that night. He helped me with my approach to hitting and as we made adjustments my swing and production got better. I give him the credit for making me the hitter I am because I learned more from him than from any other coach I have ever worked with.

How would you describe your hitting mechanics?

My hitting mechanics are very simple now that I have worked with Jeff. I keep my hands loose and start from a comfortable position with my entire body. I have a slight leg kick which works as my timing mechanism. Once my foot hits the ground (the ball is being released at this time) my weight is slightly shifted to my front leg, which helps me stay closed as my hips and shoulders begin to rotate. As I rotate my hips and shoulders my hands stay cocked. My head stays still so I can see the ball and recognize the pitch, its speed, and location. Finally, in the split second I have to decide to swing, my hands release last and I try to finish my swing high to produce line drives. This is my ideal hitting sequence but honestly it doesn’t always happen the way I plan.

Baseball America recently graded the Cardinals draft and noted that you along with Brett Wallace have the best power in the draft. Do you consider yourself a power hitter?

I have never considered myself a power hitter. I try to hit line drives and sometimes they carry out. If you watched me take batting practice you would never think I was a power hitter because I just try to hit the ball hard and most of the time I work to hit it to the opposite field (left-field for me). I have had pretty good power numbers throughout college and my first pro season but I still don’t consider myself a guy who swings for the fences. I just try to hit the ball hard.

What part of your game you would like to improve upon most?

I would like to improve every aspect of my game. I feel like in this game you don’t stay the same, you either get better or worse. If I had to pick one area, I would say defense. My strength in this game is my ability to hit but I feel like if I could improve on my defensive skills I would be a more complete player. I am definitely working to improve them and will continue to do so, but if I could magically make myself better in one area that would be the one. I say that because some days it is tough to be a hitter, but I can be a good defender everyday no matter what.

I know it’s pretty early in your career, but who is the toughest pitcher you’ve ever faced, including minors and college?

It’s hard to say because I have faced so many new pitchers. Some of them have owned me and others I have had success against. I think the best pitchers are the ones who can get you out even after you have seen them a few times in different games. The one pitcher who was able to get me out consistently during my college career was a right-hander from Elon named Steven Hensley. He was a 4th round pick for the Seattle Mariners this year, and I faced him four separate times in college, none of which I had any success against him. He threw four pitches for strikes, a four-seam, a two-seam, a change-up, and a slider. He mixed his pitches well and was not afraid to throw any of them in any count. He was also a fierce competitor and I have more respect for him as any pitcher I have ever faced. I hope I get to face him again sometime in my career, because I love to compete and would enjoy the challenge of facing him.

Growing up, who were your favorite players to watch?

My favorite players to watch were Tony Gwynn and Chipper Jones. I liked Gwynn because he was such a good hitter and made it look so easy. I liked Chipper because growing up in Tampa the closest team to me was the Braves and we used to get all the games on TV. He was their best player and so he kind of became my favorite.

Anything you’d like to tell us about Chris Swauger, the person?

I’m just happy to be a player. It’s been my dream for my whole life and I want to say thank you to everyone who reads your blog/website for supporting me. Go Cardinals!

• Note #1: all statistics through games played on July 24, 2008
• Note #2: only players at Johnson City or higher are included

Pick #18, Round Seventeen, #515 Overall – Joshua Hester

• Batavia – 19.2 ip, 16 k’s, 6 BB, 7 ER

Hester had 105 strikeouts in 89 innings at Freed-Hardeman University. He hasn’t quite kept up that strikeout rate at Batavia, but his numbers have been solid. He seems like a nice middle round pick: decent size, a lot of experience and excellent results at a small University. The Cardinals plan seems to be to get a number of pitchers like this and then let them sort themselves out with the piggy back in Quad Cities.

Pick #19, Round Eighteen, #545 Overall – Jared Bradford

• Quad Cities – 13.2 ip, 10 k’s, 2 BB, 6 ER

I assume that Bradford started at Quad Cities because he faced much better competition in the SEC than some others drafted ahead of him (like Hester, for example). He didn’t exactly light the SEC on fire, though, as he gave up 115 hits in 98.1 innings. He wasn’t an overwhelming strikeout pitcher in college, but his ratio has been pretty good in his limited time in Quad Cities.

Pick #20, Round Nineteen, #575 Overall – Xavier Scruggs

• Batavia – .189/.262/.305 7.4 BB%, 18 LD%, .266 BABIP

Xavier was a power hitting first baseman for UNLV, but he hasn’t yet lived up to his reputation in his first 95 at bats at Batavia. He’s got good size and had outstanding plate discipline in college, so it is a little disappointing that he has struggled so much.

Pick #22, Round Twenty-one, #635 Overall – Joseph (Matt) Rigoli

• Johnson City – .233/.403/.333 12.2 BB%, 5.0 LD%, .333 BABIP

Matt seems to be purely a nepotism pick (his father is a Cardinals scout). He had a rather undistinguished college career at Pace University – he is a corner infielder that never slugged over .400 in college. I would really like to say something positive about the pick, but the only thing I can think of is that I’m glad that they waited until the twenty first round to waste a pick on him.

Pick #23, Round Twenty-two, #665 Overall – Colt Sedbrook

• Batavia – .278/.385/.374 8.1 BB%, 19.0 LD%, .326 BABIP

In stark contrast to Rigoli, I love the Sedbrook pick. He spent four years at Arizona getting experience playing against the tough competition in the PAC-10 and he was successful. He hit for a high average, got on base at a very respectable clip, and while he is certainly not a home run hitter, he hit for enough power as a middle infielder to keep pitchers honest. He has played decently at Batavia so far and I think he’s got a pretty decent shot of being successful as he moves up the ladder, especially for a pick in the twenty second round.

Pick #24, Round Twenty-three, #695 Overall – Jon Bravo

• Johnson City – 21 ip, 32 k’s, 6 BB, 10 ER

The well-named Jonny Bravo has been racking up the strikeouts at Johnson City, but has also been hit pretty hard. The diminutive (5’7″) lefty was drafted after his junior year at Azusa Pacific University, where he wasn’t such a strikeout pitcher. He actually had a bit of a down year his junior year after pitching very well as a sophomore. As usual, his size will always lead to questions about his stamina and ability to have success at higher levels, but if he continues to strike batters out at the rate that he has so far, he should have some future as a middle reliever, at least.

Pick #25, Round Twenty-four, #725 Overall – Zachary Pitts

• Batavia – 20.1 ip, 11 k’s, 4 BB, 9 ER

Pitts came out of Louisville in the Big East and, like Bravo, actually pitched better in 2007 than he did in 2008. Unlike Bravo, he has decent size (6’3″) and is a nice middle-round bet to see if he can recapture his 2007 form when he had a 1.06 WHIP. He hasn’t shown that ability yet at Batavia.

Pick #26, Round Twenty-five, #755 Overall – Jason Buursma

• Batavia – 10.2 ip, 9 k’s, 5 BB, 3 ER

Buursma is a 6’3″ right hander with a crazy sidearm/submarine delivery out of Bucknell. He was very successful in college – as a reliever first and as a starter in his senior year. My guess is that he will be mostly a reliever for the Cardinals and could have a Mark Worrell-like career, if he can cut down on the walks that have shown up early at Batavia.

Pick #27, Round Twenty-six, #785 Overall – Christopher Swauger

• Batavia – .242/.342/.379 2 hr, 11.5 BB%, 18.0 LD%, .275 BABIP

Swauger is a left handed power hitting outfielder out of the Citadel. His power has not yet translated to Batavia, but his walk rate is ok and his line drive rate is acceptable. He was drafted as a senior, so he’s already twenty-one [side note: he was born on the same day as Colby Rasmus - isn't it sort of crazy that Bryan Anderson and Colby Rasmus are on the verge of making the major leagues at the same age as some of the college draftees are struggling to make a name for themselves in rookie ball?].  Anyway, here’s hoping that Swauger regains his power stroke and can dent the Quad Cities roster next season.

Pick #28, Round Twenty-seven, #815 Overall – George Brown

• Batavia – 17.2 ip, 16 k’s, 6 BB, 9 ER

Brown is a lefty that was drafted as a senior out of St. John’s University. On draft day Erik compared him to PJ Walters – a control pitcher with not a lot of velocity. He seems to have left his control at St. John’s and has been walking significantly more batters as a pro than he did in college. He will have to curb that tendency if he is to have success as he moves up the ladder.

Next week we will conclude the series with the final eleven 2008 draft picks that have played at Johnson City or higher so far this year.