ROBERT SWINDELIS A SOFT TOSSING LHP WHO HAS JUST BEEN CALLED UP. hE IS A SOFT TOSSER WITH A fb MAXING AT ABOUT 82 MPH AND HAS HAD PHENOMINAL SUCCESS. HE IS FROM VANCOUVER BC CANADA AND GRADUATED FROM CHARLESTON SOUTHERN U. HE WAS NEVER DRAFTED BUT SIGNED AS A FREE AGENT.

Robert Swindle...signed by the Yankees as a free agent on 6/20/06...was originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft...

He played HS baseball near Orlando FL.

Swindle

Funny how you get different info from two different posts.
He's 25, spent last year as a 24 year old in low A and High A. Obviously drafted but never signed and then signed as a FA after Indy ball with the Yankees now with the Phillies. Whew hard to keep track of.
Best of luck.

http://www.philliesnation.com/archives/2008/07/phils-ad...o-big-league-roster/

4 5 levels including MLB, plus indy ball in the last year. RJ travels light and pays rent month to month.

Robet was released by the Red Sox due to a deteriorating disc in his back. The Yankees picked him up when he got a clean bill of health. Not sure were he played HS BB but he is a Candian born in Vancouver as it states in his pro profile. He is a friend of my son.
Robert was 7-2 in his year with Boston and a lot of fans were very upset when they released him.
I know he lists Charleston SC as his home now.

He can flat out pitch even without a blazing FB.

Interesting info I dug up.
He never pitched for Boston, only their milb team @ lowell.
Seems to be some question as to his actual release.

Should be interesting to see how this soft tosser does with ML.

http://www.redsoxnation.net/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t9237.html

quote:

Robert was 7-2 in his year with Boston and a lot of fans were very upset when they released him.

i know there are thousands of red sox fans, but i for one have never heard of this player. i would have remembered any lefty with 7 wins. we don't get many lefty starters in fenway,relievers yes. but good for him wherever he came from.

20dad,
Soft tosser yes, not sure if he has had phenominal success as he never played MLB, born in Canada but raised in Orlando area, successful college pitcher for Charleston Southern. He was drafted by the Red Sox, played in the NYP for lowell then released that year(see the link), played Indy ball, then signed FA with Yankees but now with Phillies.
Another site I read that he was brought up possibly as a roster filler or to be the guy who meets lefties only.
I would like to see if he does pitch, would be interesting, more power to him.

Yeah, he could be a LOOGY, "Lefthand Only One Guy", situational middle relief to get a lefty out. He attended University HS, Orlando FL.

My son played with a guy like that who was drafted in the 35th round last month, cruises at 81-83 and has a 0.00 ERA in 10.2 IP in rookie ball.

Danny Ray Herrera might make a career out of that too. Three guys who just keep playing.

I think RJ's numbers are phenominal in the MiLB and Independant league for a soft thrower. He shows that it can be done. His numbers are excellent regardless of the role his team sees him playing.
He was cut by Boston due to a deteriorating disk in his back. They weren't willing to take a chance on him. The fan blog showed several fans upset with his rtelease.
When he was cleared medically and performed well in the independant league the Yankees signed him and sent him to their affiliate in Charleston.( The River Dogs)
Not many get the chances he has earned for himself.
He also played for the Canadian Nat team and had a rough outting giving up a big hit on his 1st of 2nd pitch. That is BB.

Seems to be a big cloud of mystery around him. Also was stated but not known for sure that he had back surgery, performed before he went to Indy Ball?

He only played one year for the Yankees and then released and back to independent ball (Newark Bears) then picked up by the Phillies this year. As of now still is not officially on the Phillies roster.

I read an article that stated that he had to rely on a lot of different pitches to get the job done, more than most pro ball pitchers. Some people think he could make an effective stopper but would only be
effective as a LOOGY, though his stats against RH hitters is good.

I am not sure how willing a team would be to place someone on a MLB roster to get one man out in a situation that doesn't come up that frequently.

I not sure what is so mytifing. My purpose for posting the thread was to show parents and pitchers that soft tossers do get looked at bu scouts and have been successful in D1 colleges. It was not intended to be a brain teaser.

Swindle had a very good outing on Monday for his MLB debute. He went 3 inninjgs giving up 2 runs and striking out 3 .

i think maybe the mystery stem's from your original post. you said he was never drafted and he was,you sounded like red sox nation was upset they cut him,but it was a minor league afiliate. it sounded like he came from no where which isn't the case.
no big deal really,i am very happy that he made it to the bigs. that is huge no matter how you started. i wish him well.

He never signed as adrafted pitcher is what I meant. Didn't realy expect the contoversy.
My point was and is that guys do get to the majors without big velocity and also D1 college ball. Seems to be a lot of guys who tell people they have no chance at either if they don't throw 90+. Jus isn't true.
We are supposed to be giving good advice on this site. I wasn't concerned about anything else other than the bottom line. He has pitched in the MLB

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080707&conten...i&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

A pitcher with an 82 MPH fastball is going to take some twists and turns on his way to 5 star hotel rooms, 1st class charters and $40,000 paychecks every two weeks. It happens, but an amateur player literally has a better chance getting hit by lightening.

The best advice given to a pitcher with a low 80's heater is to study hard.....come on.

Would that have been your advice to Jeff Francis who had a low 80s FB and couldn't get a US college to sign him ?
He throws hard now but only The U of British Columbia (NAIA) would take him.
I think a pitcher has to follow his dream and not listen to internet advice.

Internet Advice--- the reader had better know the advice givers background and experience

Francis was the 9th overall pick and set for life the day he signed.

I know a high school lefty drafted VERY late. He got his contract in the mail, signed it and drove to the Pirates complex and turned it in to the extended spring director. They told him he was a DNF, patted him on the head and sent him home, that day...before lunch. Instantly voided his D1 scholarship and eligibility. Everybody has dreams. I'm sure someone told him to follow his dreams too, maybe even on the internet.

Jeff earns 13 Million a year now.
My son was recruited by UBC and I had many chats with the coordinator and Jeff was hitting 80mph and no US colleges would sign him.
He kinew what he wanted and just kept going for it. when my son was looking for a college he always told evreyone he threw 81-82 mph. Every D1 I talked to was interested in him. We never once worried about his velocity. He was offereed a deal with a D1 JC that had been at the D1 WS 4 years in a row and the coach was a pitching guy who travelled around the US lecturing on pitching. All he saw was the video and a recommendation by a coach who saw him pitch a complete perfect game at his tournament. We turned it down because my son wanted to play at a 4 year school in a great city. We never worried about whether he could pitch at D1 and were not caught up in any of the BS.
Any pitcher who has to ask if he can pitch at D1 level seems to lack confidence in my opinion. If you are 17-19yo old you should know.

Look at Adam Loewen. He is on the DL again after missing much of 07. A stress fracture in his left elbow. He is also set for life but so far has turned out to be a lemon. 3.2 million signing bonus and an 6 millionj dollar deal over 4 years and he has produced nothing on that investment. He is a mid 90s LHP who didn't even do much at Chippola.