TAMPA, Fla. — Erik Swanson struggled during his first season in the majors and knew something needed to change. The right-hander pitched out of the Seattle Mariners rotation for a month in early 2019 and after posting a dismal 7.98 ERA across six starts, he was sent to triple-A.
His changeup and slider were largely ineffective and didn't help get hitters off his fastball. A coach recommended that he try out a split-fingered fastball and so Swanson gave it a shot. He had nothing to lose.
After moving to the bullpen, he fiddled around with the new pitch, but just couldn't get it to work. The grip didn't feel right, so Swanson was constantly adjusting it.
He didn't give up, though. The off-season afforded downtime and he was intent on using that productively. Swanson sat down to conduct research and scoured the Internet for videos of successful hurlers discussing their split-finger grips.
An interview with Kevin Gausman caught his eye.
Gausman, who had just signed with the San Francisco Giants at the time, held the ball in a unique way. His middle finger touched the outside of one seam and his index finger was well to the left of the other, curled over his thumb on the side of the baseball, almost like a circle changeup. All five fingers made contact with the ball.
Swanson had been using a more traditional grip — his index and middle finger were both hugging the seams, with his thumb tucked under the ball. It used just three fingers.
Swanson didn't know it at the time, but this online discovery marked the turning point in his career.
"I started throwing it pretty similar to the way he does," Swanson said, adding that Gausman has bigger hands and brings his thumb up higher on the baseball.
"So, being on the same team as him now is pretty funny."
The Blue Jays acquired the 29-year-old Swanson in the November trade that sent outfielder Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners. He adds another level of depth to the club's bullpen and is coming off a dominant 2022 campaign that saw him post a 1.68 ERA with 70 strikeouts across 53.2 innings. It was his first full season and the success was aided, of course, by his splitter.
Now, he's got the benefit of sharing a staff with the guru he learned it from.
"He's got a nasty one," says Gausman, who wasn't aware that Swanson took inspiration from his signature pitch. "I didn't know that. We've talked about the splitter, but I didn't know that he saw something that I was doing and changed something and it made it better. That's cool."
The two have played catch a few times this spring, giving Gausman an up-close look at Swanson's splitter.
"It moves a lot," said Gausman. "It's late and it spins funky. I could see how it could really mess hitters up."
After adopting the grip in 2020, it took Swanson some time to master his version of the pitch. He began the next season at the Mariners’ alternate training site and started to incorporate the splitter with more intent.
"I'm glad I stuck with it because it was just something I had to keep throwing," says Swanson. "The alt site in '21 really helped me because I got to go out and throw low-stress innings against hitters who were trying to get their work in, as well. I kept throwing it and finally got to the point where I felt comfortable with the grip.
"I started locating it where I wanted and once I started doing that, I just built confidence."
By 2022 it was a significant weapon that paired nicely with his four-seam fastball. His splitter averaged 83.5 mph, a 10-mile drop from his four-seamer (93.6).
Opponents hit just. 129 off Swanson's splitter while posting a .151 wOBA against it last season. By comparison, Gausman's splitter yielded a .192 average and .230 wOBA. Of course, Gausman being a starter means he’s got a much larger sample size, however, the point remains that Swanson's iteration is quite effective.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider says he's been impressed with Swanson so far during camp and notes that the right-hander brings another arm, along with relievers Yimi Garcia, Anthony Bass and Tim Mayza, that can be moved around to target leverage situations early in games.
"It's nice to have that extra piece to raise your floor a little bit and know that you got a couple guys behind him," Schneider said.
"[Swanson] really knows what he's doing," the manager added. "He really knows how to pair his two pitches with one another — fastball and split. Didn't realize until seeing him up close how deceptive he is. He hides the ball really well and knows exactly what he's trying to do with each hitter. He knows where his pitches play and he sticks to it."
Gausman said it's been rare for him to share a pitching staff with someone who relies on a splitter in the way he does. He estimates he'll be engaged in plenty of conversations with Swanson during the campaign, bouncing around ideas on how to deploy the weapon against certain hitters.
"We talk about it back and forth," says Swanson. "And he gives me feedback, which is really cool. There's always room for anything to improve. So, it'd be nice if that pitch got a little better this year."
NOTES:
The Blue Jays fell to the New York Yankees 10-3 on Tuesday in a rare evening Grapefruit League contest. Drew Hutchison surrendered home runs to DJ LeMahieu, Josh Donaldson and Estevan Florial in the first inning as the Yankees scored six runs to chase the Blue Jays starter, who only recorded one out. … Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (knee inflammation) reported feeling good after a workout Tuesday at the Blue Jays’ player development complex. He faced reliever Adam Cimber in live batting practice and could potentially return to game action on Wednesday or Thursday, according to Schneider. … Mitch White (shoulder) threw a side session on Monday and could pitch in a game this week. The hope is that he’s on target to break camp with the team to pitch out of the bullpen. “He's right where he should be,” said Schneider. “No red flags or anything.”
