Prospect Watch: Travis Swaggerty Looking to Grow Into His First Round Status
As a first-round draft pick, a lot of pressure was placed on Travis Swaggerty to succeed in the Pirates organization. When you look at his stat line through his first two seasons in professional baseball, nothing really stands out, but he is able to do a lot of things at an above-average rate on the field. He has some raw power that he can tap into at times, he is able to get on base at a consistent basis, and he has good speed to patrol the outfield on defense. His first-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft marked the second year in a row that the Pirates selected a college prospect with their first-round selection.
In his first full season in professional baseball, Swaggerty played for Advanced-A Bradenton and stayed pretty stagnant in terms of production. He ended the year hitting .265 with nine home runs and 40 RBI. He saw a slight drop in both batting average and power but saw an increase in run production. He also showed good plate discipline and used that to get on base at a .347 clip. However, his strikeout rate was entirely too high as he went down 22% of the time, and the swinging and missing accounted for the drop in batting average and power. His strikeout rate is one of his biggest flaws and if he could work on that, he projects to be a solid outfield prospect.
Growing up in Covington, Louisiana, Swaggerty played baseball year around as well as other sports throughout his childhood. When he got to Denham Springs High School, he became a star for the high school baseball team. After playing a minor role on the team during his freshman season, he came back and earned a starting role during each of his final three seasons with the team. He had his best performance during his senior season when he hit .451 two home runs and 38 RBI. He helped his team make the quarterfinals of the 5A state playoffs and earned several accolades during his senior season including being named the All-Baton Rouge Large School Player of the Year. He ended up moving two states over for his college ball as he committed to Southern Alabama University and majored in Exercise Science.
He got the nod as a starting outfielder right from the get-go at Southern Alabama and took the transition in stride. During his freshman season, he appeared in 59 games for the Jaguars and ended up hitting .303 with four home runs and 27 RBI. He was the leading hitter on the team and was a hitting machine collecting a team-high 14-game hit streak that season. He also got on base on a consistent basis, reaching safely in 35 straight games that season, and because of that, he was able to steal 20 bases in 31 attempts. As he moved to his sophomore year, things kept getting better for the young outfielder as he raised his average to .356 and added some more power with 11 home runs and 60 RBI. He had a very high walk rate of 19.5%, but his strikeout numbers we're right around that same mark as he went down 45 times.
After spending some time in the Cape Cod Baseball league in the summer of 2017, he returned for his junior year with all eyes on him as he was becoming a notable prospect for the 2018 MLB draft. Swaggerty saw a slight drop in his stats that season as he hit .296, but his power and run production continued to climb as he hit 13 home runs and drove in 38 RBI. One of the bright spots of his junior year is that he saw a significant decrease in his strikeout numbers and an increase in his walk numbers. He drew 54 walks in 277 plate appearances to help him amass a .455 on-base percentage. He didn't use his speed as much on the base paths that season with only nine stolen bases, but he used it in the outfield. His draft stock soared during his senior year and he was even a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. Because of all of his talents in different areas, the Pittsburgh Pirates ended up taking him in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft and he would sign just a week after being drafted.
Because he had already seen a drop in his stats during his senior season, the Pirates wanted to boost Swaggerty's confidence a little and sent him to Class-A Short Season West Virginia to start his pro career. The transition went fairly smoothly for Swaggerty because he signed early and got the chance to play a lot for the Black Bears. He appeared in 36 games while hitting .288 and hitting four home runs while driving in 15 RBI. His power numbers weren't exactly where the Pirates had hoped they would be, as he collected just 14 extra-base hits that season. His patience also seemed to decrease, as he walked just 15 times, and he ended up striking out in just under 29% of his plate appearances. He reached base at a .365 clip and showed the makings of a good base stealer, swiping nine bags in 12 chances that season.
Because of injuries in the upper levels of the Minor League system, Swaggerty was moved up to Class Low-A West Virginia for the final 16 games of 2018. The transition was not a positive one for the young outfielder as he hit just .192 and didn't look comfortable at all at the plate. He struck out 18 times in 62 at-bats and only had three extra-base hits, including his only home run at the level. Whenever he did get on base, the more likely than not came around to score as he scored six runs on the season. He did not attempt a stolen base in Low-A ball and ended the year on a disappointing mark on the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively, Swaggerty saw all of his playing time come in centerfield and he became a better defensive outfielder as the season went on. He started the year with the Black Bears and committed four errors in 308.1 innings of work for a .950 fielding percentage. However, he showed a promising arm from centerfield picking up five outfield assists with the Black Bears while picking up 71 putouts. His defense only got better as he moved to full-season baseball, as he raised his fielding percentage to .974. He committed just one error in 143 innings of work and ended up throwing out two runners in 16 games.
Despite his struggles in Low-A ball, the Pirates were confident in Swaggerty's abilities and called him up to Advanced-A Bradenton to start the 2019 season. Swaggerty seemed to get back to his normal self, hitting .265 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in a career-high 121 games played. His strikeout numbers were actually better than the year before, as he struck out 25.3% of the time, but his numbers were still way too high for a top prospect in the Pirates system. However, he was able to get some of his patience back that he had in college reaching base at a .347 clip, and that allowed him to show off his speed. He took 23 bases in 31 opportunities and led the Marauders by a landslide in that category.
Defensively, Swaggerty got even better as a centerfielder and posted an impressive .991 fielding percentage. He was near the top of the Florida State League with seven outfield assists last season, while he played in 1013.1 innings of work in center field. For his effort, Swaggerty was named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star and a MiLB.com Organizational All-Star. It will be interesting to see how Swaggerty is used if at all, this season with him being named to the 2020 taxi squad. He has all the tools to contribute, but I worry about his strikeouts if he were to be called upon in a Big League game. The more than likely option is that Swaggerty will be back in Bradenton in 2021 with a chance to make the move to Double-A Altoona. Wherever he ends up, Swaggerty is training to be the next generation of Pirates centerfielder.
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