Travis Swaggerty Tearing Up Triple-A in Debut

In one of the bolder moves made by Ben Cherington and his staff, Travis Swaggerty went from Advanced-A ball in 2019 to Triple-A in 2021. He has been rewarding that confidence, tearing the cover off of the ball in his first two games at the Triple-A level.

In the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft, the Pirates selected outfielder Travis Swaggerty out of South Alabama University. In his first two seasons in the Pirates organization, he rose through the ranks of A Ball, and after struggling initially he put together a good season in High-A Ball. He ended up hitting .269 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 121 games with Bradenton in 2019 and was all set to make the jump to Double-A Altoona in 2020. However, the pandemic shut down the season and Swaggerty was forced to spend the year at the Pirates alternate training site in Altoona. He earned his first trip to Big League Spring Training this season as a non-roster invitee in 2021 and got a lot of experience against upper-echelon talent.

The results were mixed for Swaggerty as he ended the spring hitting .176 with an RBI, but ended up getting better as the Spring went on. He didn't get a hit in his first four appearances, but started putting together better at-bats by the time camp broke in late March. He once again got to work at the Pirates alternate site at the start of 2021 under the watch of Triple-A manager Brian Esposito. Swaggerty apparently earned the respect of Esposito and General Manager Ben Cherington, as he earned a promotion from Advanced-A Bradenton to Triple-A Indianapolis in 2021. He has not disappointed in his first two Triple-A games, and we take a look at his early success and how that translates into the future.

Hitting The Cover off the Ball

After sitting idly for a year, everyone in Minor League Baseball was excited to get back to action. We heard about the great performances from Pirates Minor League pitchers but, aside from Liover Peguero in High-A, no batter had a better opening night than Swaggerty. The day started with Swaggerty taking the third Triple-A pitch he saw over the wall for a solo home run, and it only got better from there. He ended the day going 3-4 with a home run, a walk, and two RBI as the Indians downed the Iowa Cubs 3-0 for their first shutout Opening Night win since 1998. He was patient at the plate and made the opposition work seeing at least three pitches in three of his five plate appearances. However, his first and last at-bat of the night was his best two times up to bat in his debut.

In that first at-bat, Swaggerty was looking to make a good impression on his new teammates, and he did that. The first pitch of the at-bat was middle of the plate at the letters and Swaggerty swung right through it. He was disappointed that he missed what might be the best pitch of the at-bat, and took the next one low for a ball. However, he would get another chance as the third pitch was in the same spot as the first pitch, and this time Swaggerty didn't miss it. He crushed a solo home run over the right-field wall and gave the Indians a 1-0 lead from the get-go. He got his second hit of the game the very next inning on a four-pitch single and then added a big insurance RBI in the ninth when he lined the first pitch he saw into left field to score Anthony Alford in his team's 3-0 win.

His second game wasn't nearly as impressive as his first game, but he was still a contributor going 1-4 with an RBI. It was an 8-3 loss for the Indianapolis Indians, dropping them to 1-1 on the season, but Swaggerty was once again a big part of the scoring on the day. He came up in the third inning with a runner on second and one out, and promptly lined a single to centerfield scoring Connor Kaiser and tying the game at a run apiece. He would reach base two more times in the game on a hit by pitch and a fielding error, and was able to make contact in all six of his at-bats on the night. So, in his first 11 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Swaggerty has gotten four hits, a home run, drawn two walks, and has reached base a total of seven times. All of this without recording his first Triple-A strikeout and making contact with the ball during every at-bat so far.

The Next Steps

Now, it only has been two games and Swaggerty still has a lot to prove at Triple-A, but could a hot start mean a fast track to the Major Leagues? Outfield is a spot where the Pirates are severely lacking right now, and Swaggerty is one of those pieces they are considering for the future. However, Swaggerty now has just two games of experience above High-A ball and has shown some offensive struggles in the lower Minor Leagues. His career-high batting average is .269 back in 2019, and he has shown ok power with nine home runs and 40 RBI that season. For a centerfielder, those numbers aren't bad, but if he is to be an everyday corner outfielder, you would like to at least see a little more production from the 23-year-old outfielder.

Typically, your corner outfielders have the power and your centerfielder has the speed and defensive ability. For Swaggerty, he has shown decent power in his Minor League career, with 15 home runs, but he has yet to hit double-digit home runs in a season. However, Swaggerty has shown throughout his career that he is a strong defender, and most of his time has come in center field. He has a .980 career fielding percentage in centerfield and has shown a strong arm with 14 career outfield assists. Swaggerty played mostly the corner outfield positions in Spring but has been in centerfield for each of the first two games at Triple-A Indianapolis. 

As for whether or not we see Travis Swaggerty this year, I don't think he is quite ready to make that jump. I would like to see him get a full year's worth of playing time in Triple-A before he comes up with the Pirates. He is still only 23-years-old, and you don't want to rush him to the Big Leagues like the team has done in the past, Gregory Polanco, and set him up to fail. Let him get confidence and show that he can produce at the Triple-A level, and then bring him up sometime next season. He will most likely be the first of the next wave of Pirates players to make the jump to the Big Leagues, and he is hoping to lead the way as a fresh young face of the Pirates franchise for years to come.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (13-17) have an off day today, but return to action when they take on the Chicago Cubs (15-16) at 2:20 pm. Trevor Cahill (1-3, 7.40) is looking for some consistency on the mound for the Pirates as he takes on Zach Davies (1-2, 8.22) for the Cubs. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter at @Buccos_Cove.