Matt Swarmer makes Chicago Cubs history
Matt Swarmer had a strong start to his Chicago Cubs career. He had allowed just two earned runs on seven hits and three walks over 12 innings in his first two appearances, striking out 11 batters. While his three homers allowed may have been a bit of concern, there was hope that Swarmer could be a solid back of the rotation arm going forward.
Then he faced the Yankees. It all went downhill in a hurry as Swarmer allowed six homers in a disastrous outing. Not only did he become the first Cubs pitcher since Tom Lee in 1884 to allow six homers in a game, but he was also the first pitcher since Sloppy Thurston in 1934, and second pitcher in MLB history, to allow six solo homers in a game. He also became the tenth pitcher in modern baseball history to allow six homers in a game, and the first since Michael Blazek in 2017.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Swarmer sees MLB dream turn into nightmare
Swarmer had managed to put together three solid innings before everything went south. Aaron Judge had belted a leadoff homer but aside from a third inning single, that was all he allowed.
Then the Bronx Bombers showed up. Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres hit back to back homers with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Jose Trevino, Judge, and Anthony Rizzo all homers in the fifth, with that final blast from Rizzo putting Swarmer into the record books.
He had issues keeping the ball in the park in the minors. Swarmer had allowed 59 homers in 287 innings at Triple-A, although he had allowed just three homers in 39 innings at Iowa this year. There was reason to hope that he had figured something out and had made an adjustment to allow him to keep the ball in the yard.
That was not the case on Saturday. Yes, the Yankees lineup can make any pitcher think that he is throwing batting practice at times. By the time Swarmer’s day was done, that lineup made his outing one for the history books.
Next. A cautionary note about Willson Contreras. dark
Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Swarmer had a historic outing on Saturday. It just was not the type of history that he would have wanted to make.