Nick Swiney’s Changeup Exceeds Expectations

Few pitchers enter pro ball with a changeup as developed and effective as Nick Swiney’s.

“The changeup’s a legitimate swing-and-miss pitch,” Giants farm director Kyle Haines said. “It’s one of those that he can throw in any count for a swing and miss.”

Swiney is a 21-year-old lefthander from North Carolina State whom San Francisco selected in the second round in 2020. He has the best changeup in the Giants’ system.

“I think the changeup is the best pitch in the game.” Swiney said. “It gets everyone off the fastball.”

And to think, though the 6-foot-3, 187-pound Swiney threw the changeup in high school, he was not allowed to use it as a freshman with the Wolfpack. He was told in his role as mainly a left-on-left specialist to stick with his fastball and curveball.

Swiney credits pitching coach Clint Chrysler, who joined N.C. State after Swiney’s freshman season, for putting the changeup back in his repertoire.

Mainly a reliever in his first two seasons, Swiney blossomed as a starter in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic hit. He went 4-0, 1.29 in four starts. In 28 innings, he allowed a mere 13 hits, struck out 42 and walked six.

The strikeout numbers were in line with his first two seasons and the walk numbers were dramatically better than in his first two seasons.

“There wasn’t really anything mechanical that I fixed,” Swiney said. “It was all just the mental side of the game.”

Swiney’s fastball sat in the high 80s and low 90s last year. Haines hopes that with focused strength training, Swiney’s velocity could improve a few notches.

One advantage Swiney will have as he tries to progress through the organization: He’ll likely often throw to catcher Patrick Bailey, his batterymate in college whom the Giants selected with the 13th overall pick. 

“Patrick and I, we (know) everything about each other,” Swiney said.

 

GIANTICS

— The Giants’ recent focus on North Carolina State products doesn’t stop with Swiney and Bailey. It also includes shortstop Will Wilson, whom the Angels took in the first round in 2019 and traded to San Francisco in December of that year.

— The Giants announced the signing of 34 international prospects, the most highly touted being 17-year-old Diego Velasquez, a switch-hitting shortstop from Venezuela.

— San Francisco acquired 6-foot-8 righthander Carson Ragsdale from the Phillies in a trade that sent reliever Sam Coonrod to Philadelphia. Coonrod is a hard thrower who struggled to the tune of a 9.82 ERA in 2020. Ragsdale was the Phillies’ fourth-round pick in 2020. In addition to pitching, he also played first base at South Florida.