Brewers Sign R.J. Swindle

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 25, 2008 7:30 PM EST

It's time to scratch off one of the more promising freely available LOOGYs today. The Milwaukee Brewers have signed R.J. Swindle to a one-year major league deal. The contract is apparently a split deal, but Swindle will make the 400k minimum if he stays in the majors. Not only is that an awesome deal for the Brewers, it has the potential to be the best relief contract of the off-season.

Swindle is only 25 and formerly of the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies organizations. Last season Swindle dominated Triple-A left-handed bats like none other, and had a 14:1 strkeout-to-walk ratio against them. Swindle's previous three seasons give credence that he really is top LOOGY material: 15.53 K/9, 1.41 BB/9, and despite facing 183 lefty batters, he's yet to give a homerun up to one.

Swindle's swinging strike and groundball totals speak well enough for his stuff. In his limited major league exposure, somehow Swindle went three in his debut against the Mets. The first at-bat ended in a David Wright homerun, but here's a look at his Pitch F/x data from that game.

July 7th, versus Mets

Pitch	AVG MPH	H-Break	V-Break	% Thrown
Fastball	84	9.33	4.78	28
Change	79	6.92	4.87	30
Slider	75	-2.04	6.08	32
Curve	56	-9.97	0	10

Swindlehbreak_medium

Swindlevbreak_medium

In words: Swindle's fastball doesn't go too fast, but does break up-and-in to left-handed hitters. His change-up and slider are similar speed, but the slider breaks away from lefties (Note: it appears the slider is actually a misclassified cutter.) Probably the most interesting thing about Swindle is his curveball. That's not a typo, it really does go 55 miles per hour, and it breaks away extremely hard. Swindle's not going to wow anyone with his stuff, but it's not like most LOOGYs are.

Excellent move for the Brewers.

References

MLB.com

Minor League Splits

Stat Corner

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Comments

Good, this means that the Brewers will likely not retain Shouse.

He’d be way too expensive for his production.

---
Juuuust a bit outside!!
http://balkingtraditionalism.blogspot.com/

by Jack Moore on Nov 25, 2008 7:32 PM EST reply actions

I love this move for the Brewers.

His splits are downright filthy. Filthy filthy filthy.

Always liked R.J. (Swindle, that is).

I know that's a pisser, baby.

by Blicks on Nov 25, 2008 7:44 PM EST reply actions

He's a hybrid

A J.P. Howell fastball
A Casey Fossum eephus
He probably gives lefties nightmares and righties fantasies

by therayspartyleader on Nov 25, 2008 8:04 PM EST reply actions

Too bad Yost isn't there anymore,

to have him intentionally walk Ryan Howard.

Space.

It's a problem we face.

So we never go anywhere.

We just stay in one place.

by hazel on Nov 25, 2008 11:22 PM EST reply actions

55 MPH?

God effing damnit! It must be really nasty, and break really hard. Otherwise it wouldn’t even be a pitch.

Don’t know much about Swindle other than his splits. Sounds like a good deal to me by the Brewers.

Mother---- him and John Wayne!

by MerryGoByeBye on Nov 26, 2008 1:07 AM EST reply actions

As a Phillies fan, I’m sad to see Swindle go, but with Romero and Eyre in red pinstripes again next year, it was pretty clear that his best opportunities were elsewhere. For those interested, he did an interview with The Good Phight back i n June that’s a good read.

Nice signing for the Brewers, as long as he’s used correctly. As hazel said, Ned Yost’s absence should help in that regard.

by PhillyFriar on Nov 26, 2008 11:19 AM EST reply actions

Here are some graphs

of Swinde’s pitches that I’ve just posted.

http://www.cubsfx.com/2008/11/brewers-sign-rj-swindle-loogy-herd.html

Also note, I believe the slider ID is incorrect – he’s throwing a cutter (interview link at the link where he discusses his pitch speeds). Based on the limited data in PITCHf/x, he basically throws fastball/cutter to lefties and mixes four pitches to righties. But, he only had a cup of coffee, so it’s hard to say.

I wish the Cubs had picked him up, he’s worth a flier. Good move by the Crew, indeed.

by Harry Pavlidis on Nov 26, 2008 12:44 PM EST reply actions