Meet a Prospect: Erik Swanson & Nick Green

The New York Yankees made a lot of big trades before the August 1st trading deadline this year and the team went from having a farm system that was widely considered to be “middle of the road” to arguably one of the best if not the best. The big names that propelled the Yankees to or near the top are Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney and Dillon Tate but on top of the immense amount of talent the Yankees already had they added a few key pieces that many aren’t talking about. I unfortunately could not find enough information to justify a post for each of Erik Swanson and Nick Green, the two additional prospects the Yankees received from Texas in exchange for Carlos Beltran, so I figured I would lump them together and introduce the Yankees fan base to them both at one time. So this is Meet a Prospect: The Erik Swanson and Nick Green Editions.


Nick Green and Erik Swanson are both right-handed pitchers who were both drafted out of Iowa based junior colleges in the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft. Green has an easy delivery and a good pitching frame that helps his fastball touch 95 MPH, although he sits closer to 92-93 comfortably, and his changeup hit around 81 MPH keeping batters off balance. Green also throws a 12-6 curveball but the pitch is just considered to be average at this point. Green is 21-years old and still pitching in short-season ball though which shows his projectability and his future with the organization. He may surprise a lot of people, Adam Warren and David Phelps were never considered to be aces in the making either by any means, so stay tuned for Green.


As far as Erik Swanson goes he is just another in the long line of big-bodied right-handed power pitchers that throw really, really hard in the Yankees system. Swanson pitched Iowa Western to a national title in 2014 and has been seen throwing gas up to 99 MPH as recently as this season. Swanson sits comfortable at 94-97 MPH and has enough movement to not become another Nathan Eovaldi from his Miami Marlins days. Swanson also throws a slider and a changeup but both are considered raw and below-average at this point meaning Swanson will have to add at least two more pitches if he wants to be a starter and at least one more if he wants to be a reliever at the Major League level. If not he could just be an organizational filler. The sky is the limit though and there is projectability there, his changeup is showing improvement from everything I have read, and that’s good enough for right now.

So join me in welcoming both Erik Swanson and Nick Green to the organization and to the Yankees family. We’re glad to have you.