David Swanson enters his first season as the Stags’ pitching coach. Swanson brings professional and coaching experience to the Stags after an 11-year professional playing career and 18-year coaching career as the owner and founder of Swanson's Professional Baseball Instruction LLC.
Swanson spent 11 years playing in minor league baseball as part of the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox organizations. Originally drafted in the ninth round by the Mets in the 1991 draft, Swanson appeared in 234 career games with 146 starts while posting a 58-48 record and a 3.78 ERA in 1044 innings. His best season came during the 1995 campaign where he notched a 7-1 record for the Mets farm system before being traded to the Rockies as part of the Bret Saberhagen trade. He was named the 1991 Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year out of Berlin High School.
After his playing career, Swanson served as the K-Zone Producer for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball for nine years. In that position, he would help scout each teams pitching staffs and provide this information to our on-air talent and production staff. His in-game responsibilities primarily include replay packages of pitch sequencing for on-air talent, along with breaking down a pitcher's delivery.
It was during this time when Swanson founded Swanson's Professional Baseball Instruction LLC, which is now in its 18th year. Through the program, Swanson has worked with more than 150 students who have gone on to play at the collegiate level, along with 10 students who played, or are currently playing at the professional level. He has also been the director of annual weekly youth league clinics and is in charge of data collecting; pitchers and hitters (pitch speed, pitch spin rates, and bat speed/power information.
He also brings coaching experience to the Stags after serving as Rehab Pitching Coordinator/Assistant Rookie Level Pitching Coach for the Cleveland Guardians. In that position, he was in charge of overseeing and creating "return-to-throw" programs for professional pitchers who suffered an injury. He also assisted with the rookie level team at all home and night games, serving as a second pitching coach.
