Pirates A to Z: Travis Swaggerty getting ready to return after losing 2 seasons to setbacks

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Travis Swaggerty

Position: Center field

Throws: Left

Bats: Left

Age: 24

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 200 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Did not play in majors.

Contract: Not yet eligible for arbitration.

Acquired: Selected in first round by Pirates in 2018 MLB Draft.

This past season: When the Pirates picked Swaggerty 10th overall in June 2018, their outfield consisted of Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and their previous top-10 pick, Austin Meadows.

After signing for $4.4 million, Swaggerty met with fellow South Alabama alum David Freese at PNC Park and found Meadows waiting to introduce himself. Both believed they would be future teammates in the Pirates’ outfield.

“He’s an incredible player,” Swaggerty said of Meadows. “Watching him do what he does at the level he does for being such a young kid, it’s incredible to watch. I’m looking forward to being next to him in the future.”

So much has changed since that day. None of those four outfielders are still with the Pirates, which provided an opportunity for Swaggerty to seize a spot in the starting lineup with a strong season.

After spending the 2020 season at the alternate training site in Altoona, where he likely would have been assigned to play for the Double-A Curve, Swaggerty skipped a level when he was assigned first to the alternate site and then to Triple-A Indianapolis this past spring.

The Pirates had high hopes for the outfielder who was ranked their No. 9 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 14 by Baseball America, especially considering their need for a center fielder at the time.

“Most of that’s about Travis,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in May, adding that Swaggerty faced higher-level pitching and received individualized instruction. “Although he didn’t have a season, he did get an extended period at the alt site, where we saw really good things and he worked hard to make improvements at the alt site.

“So despite the missed year, he got a good amount of time on the field and at-bats and exposure, and we just see improvement. … Hitting the ball hard, playing good defense. So you know we feel like he’s ready to take the challenge of playing Triple-A and we’re excited to see him do that. Credit to him for working hard at it.”

Cherington called Swaggerty “one of our most consistent hitters” in the group that trained at the alternate site and played games in Columbus and Toledo, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton cited that success as part of the reason for his promotion to Indy.

“He really performed well there and, they felt, deserved the ability to do that,” Shelton said. “And it’s one of the challenges we have with not having a season last year. Some guys are going to make jumps. But, he’s got a good future ahead of him.”

Travis Swaggerty’s homer tonight! @hernleyt here it is. pic.twitter.com/zLDEs8OtL0

— The Murphanko Experience (@Murphanko) May 5, 2021

Swaggerty got off to a great start, hitting a leadoff home run in a three-hit, two-RBI debut in a 3-0 win over the Iowa Cubs on May 4. In 12 games for Indy, Swaggerty batted .220 (9 for 41) with three homers and seven RBIs and posted a solid .333 on-base percentage and .772 OPS. After striking out 116 times with 57 walks in High-A in 2019, he had eight strikeouts and six walks through the first dozen games.

Travis Swaggerty. Dead center. pic.twitter.com/qH8SRmeNOu

— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) May 12, 2021

But in late May, Swaggerty dislocated his right shoulder while diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt, an injury that required surgery to address what Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk called “recurrent instability in his right shoulder.” Swaggerty, who hits and throws left-handed, was shut down for the rest of the season.

“The timing of the surgery is just as important there as well,” Tomczyk said. “That’s if you get the surgery done now, he will have pretty close to a normal offseason to allow him to come in and compete for spring training with no reservations.”

Tomczyk said Swaggerty “worked his tail off” at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., and remained optimistic about his rehabilitation progression. Swaggerty returned home to prepare for the birth of his first child, daughter Sutton Hollie, who was born six weeks premature on Sept. 12 and weighed only 4 pounds, 14 ounces at birth.

The future: Swaggerty was one of four players the Pirates added to their 40-man roster Nov. 19, along with infielder Liover Peguero and fellow outfielders Canaan Smith-Njigba and Jack Suwinski, to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

That was a strong sign that Swaggerty remains in their future plans, perhaps as eventual replacement for Gold Glove finalist Bryan Reynolds in center field someday. Swaggerty posted video on Instagram of himself swinging in the batting cage, and Cherington received promising news after talking to Swaggerty earlier this month.

Travis Swaggerty posted on IG a video of him taking hacks in the cage… well, a hack. His dog, Griffey, is providing a little batter interference. But good to see him healthy and swinging. pic.twitter.com/SC1nBQkQf3

— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) November 10, 2021

“All the reports have been really good,” Cherington said. “Talking to Travis, he feels really good. He’s into baseball activities. He’s swinging a bat. Knock on wood, barring setbacks or something, we feel good about where he’s going to be going into spring training. Although the sample (size) is not that big, going back to last year at the alt site and then a little bit early this year, there was good progress being made, and he was doing that against upper-level pitching. So we’re encouraged by that and encouraged by the physical recovery that we’re seeing also.”