Dave Swartzbaugh

David Theodore Swartzbaugh (born February 11, 1968 in Middletown, Ohio) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1995 to 1997 for the Chicago Cubs.

Career

This 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 195 pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 9th round (224th overall) of the 1989 draft. He was used both as a starter and reliever in the minors, and saw success in both roles. For example, in 1991 with the Winston-Salem Spirits (now the Warthogs), he went 10–4 with a 1.83 ERA as a starter. As a reliever in 1995 with the Iowa Cubs, he went 3–0 with a 1.53 ERA in 30 relief appearances.

He made his big league debut on September 3, 1995 at the age of 27 against the Atlanta Braves. He was perfect in the 2/3 of an inning that made up his debut. He did well in his first year in the Majors, no matter how short it was-in seven relief appearances, he did not give up a single earned run and struck out five in 7 1/3 innings.

Alas, that success did not carry over. The Cubs tried using him as a starter in 1996, and that experiment failed—in 6 games (5 started), he posted a 6.38 ERA in 24 innings of work. He only struck out 13 while walking 14. They tried using him as a starter again in 1997, but that failed too. He went 0–1 in 8 innings of work, which totaled two games started. After his final major league game on April 22, 1997, Swartzbaugh stuck around in the minors until 1999.

Overall, Swartzbaugh went 0–3 in 39+ innings of work with a 5.72 career ERA. He struck out 22 and walked 24. He was 0 for 10 at the plate.

Other information

• Swartzbaugh was teammates with Steve Trachsel for seven professional seasons-longer than any other teammate.
• Swartzbaugh earned $153,500 in 1997.
• He wore two numbers in his career-36 in 1995 and 1996, and 38 in 1997.

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or The Baseball Gauge, or Venezuela Winter League