# Erik Swanson

Erik Donald Swanson (born September 4, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Seattle Mariners. Swanson is one of only two active MLB players born in North Dakota, with the other being pitcher Matt Strahm of the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Amateur career

Swanson attended Mariemont High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 2012. Swanson attended Wabash Valley College for one year and then Iowa Western Community College for a year, playing college baseball at both schools and winning the JUCO World Series in 2014 with Iowa Western.

## Professional career
### Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers selected Swanson in the eighth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. Swanson made his professional debut in 2014 with the Spokane Indians and he spent the whole season there, pitching to a 1–2 win–loss record with a 4.63 earned run average (ERA) in 23+1⁄3 innings pitched out of the bullpen. He pitched 2015 with the Arizona League Rangers, Hickory Crawdads, Frisco RoughRiders and Round Rock Express, compiling a combined 1–0 record and 2.35 ERA in 15+1⁄3 innings, and started 2016 with Hickory.

### New York Yankees

On August 1, 2016, Swanson was traded with Dillon Tate and Nick Green to the New York Yankees for Carlos Beltrán. He finished that season with the Charleston RiverDogs. In 24 games (17 starts) between the two clubs, he was 6–5 with a 3.46 ERA. He spent 2017 with the Tampa Yankees where he was 7–3 with a 3.95 ERA in 20 starts and started 2018 with the Trenton Thunder. He rehabbed with the Staten Island Yankees during the year and was also promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in May. In 24 games (22 starts) with the three clubs, he went 8–2 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.

### Seattle Mariners

On November 19, 2018, the Yankees traded Swanson, Justus Sheffield, and Dom Thompson-Williams to the Seattle Mariners for James Paxton. The Mariners added him to their 40-man roster the next day. Swanson opened the 2019 season with the Tacoma Rainiers, with whom he was 0–1 with a 5.55 ERA.
The Mariners promoted Swanson to the major leagues for the first time on April 9, 2019. He made his major league debut on April 11, 2019. In 2019 he was 1–5 with a 5.74 ERA. In 2020 he was 0–2 with a 12.91 ERA. In 2021, he had a 3.31 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 35+1⁄3 innings. During the 2022 season, Swanson recorded a 1.68 ERA with 70 strikeouts across 53+2⁄3 innings.

### Toronto Blue Jays

On November 16, 2022, the Mariners traded Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Teoscar Hernández.

## Personal life

Swanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota. His grandfather, Dwaine Hoberg, is a former mayor of Moorhead, Minnesota. Erik's father, Mark, played college football for the North Dakota State Bison. Erik lived in Fargo until he was five years old, when his family moved to Cincinnati. Swanson moved back to Fargo in 2015.
Swanson and his wife, Madison, married in 2018 and reside in Fargo. They have one son and one daughter together. On February 25, 2024, his son, Toby, was struck by a car in Dunedin, Florida, and airlifted to the hospital in critical condition. Less than a week later, Toby was released from the hospital, with Swanson stating "God is good".