Tribe's Jon Schwind Welcomes Latest Challenge

You may not realize it when attending an Indians game at Victory Field, but the first base coach's box is often manned by a current Indianapolis Indian who isn't in the lineup.

And in the third base coach's box? The young, 20-something with a well-manicured beard? The guy who looks like he was just subbed out of the game from left field, got done working a shift at a local brewery and was the cool chaperone for an Indianapolis Zoo field trip, all in one? His name is Jon Schwind. Indy's fourth coach, official title of assistant hitting coach, with a story only just beginning.
Schwind, who turned 29 at the end of May, already experienced his midlife crisis. How? For someone who married his high school sweetheart and played in the minor leagues for parts of seven seasons, a midlife crisis - or hurdle - seems far-fetched. But it's a step that shortened his playing career and led him to the Circle City.
The youngest of four boys and raised on the outskirts of Rochester, New York, Schwind grew up in a blue collar, disciplined family that valued faith and hard work. There were no video games, no cable television, no big-city living. With indoor entertainment at a premium, the Schwind brothers played every outdoor game and sport imaginable in the streets with their neighborhood friends.
"I grew up trying to emulate [my brothers] and follow in their footsteps," said Schwind. "There were always children in the streets, which was great. I played a bunch of different sports with them but never had a real focus, which is why my opportunities to play college baseball were limited."
Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York would be Schwind's landing spot for college ball. The coaching staff liked his raw athleticism, and they stayed true to their word, playing him at six different positions over the course of his three-year tenure.
"I had a really good sophomore year at Marist, a really good sophomore summer season," said Schwind. "A lot of people had me projected to be drafted in the top 10 rounds."
Then, by Schwind's self-expected standards, he had a down year as a junior. "A very, very average year."
He hit .287 and led the Red Foxes with 15 doubles and 47 runs scored. A bad year? By no means. He carried a career batting average of .295, 13 home runs, 47 doubles, 19 stolen bases, 111 RBI and 127 runs scored into the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, where his name was called by the Pirates with the first pick…in the 41st round.
"That round doesn't even exist anymore," Schwind laughed.
And Pittsburgh wanted Schwind to catch. One of the six positions he didn't play in college.
"I didn't have a catcher's glove or catcher's gear. I had nothing. I was pretty far behind in terms of receiving, from a catcher's perspective," said Schwind. "I backed up (Jacob) Stallings and (Elias) Diaz."
Schwind hit .347 and held his own behind the plate during his rookie campaign, throwing out 26 percent of basestealers (9-for-35) in 38 games played with the Gulf Coast League Pirates. But then came the hurdles: a broken thumb and broken arm in 2012 that limited him to 30 games, a broken hamate bone in 2014 that cut his season short to just 49 games. Then the worst injury of them all, a ruptured spleen while with Double-A Altoona in Erie, Pa. on April 24, 2015. He collided with third baseman and current Indianapolis Indian, Eric Wood, in left field on a shallow fly ball.
Wood's knee struck Schwind's side. It hurt to breathe. Maybe a broken rib? He finished the inning. 
A half inning passed before Schwind was rushed to a local hospital with then-Curve trainer Dru Scott, now in his third season as the Tribe's athletic trainer. Doctors couldn't see Schwind's spleen, shadowed because of internal bleeding. A liter-and-a-half of blood, to be exact.
"[My spleen] was obliterated," said Schwind.
Raised on hard work, toughness and trying to 'keep up' with his older brothers, Schwind, admittedly, rushed back from the internal injuries too soon. After a surprisingly injury-free 2016 and his first three - and only - at-bats with Triple-A Indianapolis, Schwind tore his internal oblique near the end of spring training in 2017. He returned to the field in late May, only to head back to the disabled list a few days later with a torn intercostal muscle.

Schwind attributed his 2017 injuries to two things. First, his 2015 splenectomy and leftover scar tissue from the surgery. And second? "I played hard. It was one of my strengths and one of my weaknesses. I played the game at one speed.
"I never got hurt in college," Schwind continued.
Schwind returned to the field in late July for Altoona's run to the 2017 Eastern League championship. He homered in his last regular season game. He singled and scored two runs in his only postseason appearance. He sprayed champagne with Mitch Keller when the Curve won it all.
And now, less than two years removed from the game between the lines, Schwind brings a calming presence, mentorship and familiarity outside the lines; from the third base coach's box to Indy's clubhouse. He played with many Pirates farmhands, some currently with the Indians, who have already worked their way to the majors or are still pushing towards the big leagues. A new chapter of his career being written by the day.
"I like to get better, but I like to help other people get better, too. Push yourself but push the guy next to you just as much. My brothers pushed me - athletically, my life, my marriage, different avenues to go and not to go down," said Schwind. "And absolutely my parents, their guidance. My family is why I'm here today."