Schwaab the Deck

When you think about what it takes to be a pitcher several things come to mind. Being a closer is a big responsibility. You have to have the right mentality and command of the strike zone. For Andrew Schwaab, he's well on his path to figuring it all out.

Schwaab is a 6'1" right-handed pitcher from Saint Charles, Missouri that found his success early, but it didn't come without hard work and determination.

Andrew Schwaab was a senior on his Fort Zumwalt West High School baseball team and was looking for his next opportunity to play at the next level. "Out of high school I didn't have anybody recruiting me," said the Missouri native. "For the most part, there was one school in my area called Saint Charles Community College in the same region as Crowder [College]. Crowder had a lot better track record and I loved the coaches, so I ended up going there for two years." 

In his freshman season at Crowder College, Schwaab was able to appear in 15 games. In 39.0 innings, he touted a 2-3 record with a 7.85 ERA. Though, the next year is really when things started to heat up. "In my sophomore year is really when blew up a little bit, had a really good season, and was being recruited heavily by a bunch of different schools."

His sophomore season saw an increase in overall playing time and better pitching. As the closer for the Roughriders, Schwaab recorded just a 1-2 record with a 2.67 ERA with 11 saves over the course of 30.1 innings in 26 games. His efforts on the field garnered him Crowder College Pitcher of the Year accolades. "Well going into my sophomore year I knew I had high hopes for myself to really turn it around coming off of my struggling freshman year, knowing I'd be the closer," said Schwaab of his sophomore season.  "So coming back in and getting the opportunity to close was just huge for me and to take that and to turn it in to how good it was, obviously pitch as much as I did, I loved it; especially to be called upon in all of the big games, even in the little games that ended up being close ones. I'm still going in to pitch in games and I love it." 

Schwaab was still looking for his next opportunity to play in college. "Towards the end (of my sophomore season) a couple of schools fell out (of the recruiting process), so I called Mizzou and of course they ended up jumping on board. I went there being the home-state kid. I wanted to be there so I could be close to my family, giving them a chance to see me play for a couple of more years." 

Being from St. Charles, Missouri, right outside of St. Louis, Schwaab was asked if he had always dreamed of playing for the Mizzou Tigers. "I mean yes and no, growing up I didn't have the biggest feelings of wanting to go and play for Mizzou. Growing up I always wanted to leave Missouri, but being in the SEC and what not was the perfect setup. Obviously it wasn't like Arkansas or anybody else was recruiting me, so going to Mizzou was really a blessing in disguise."

In 2014, Schwaab showed up on campus in Columbia ready to rare-and-rock on the mound, but wasn't exactly sure what to expect. He remembers, "Going in I knew they were looking for a closer, and me coming out of Crowder being a closer and one of the top (pitchers) in the country in saves, they were really looking for me to come in and be the closer. I know they had a sophomore that was looking to be a closer at the end of the day, and we had a red-shirt junior who was the closer the year before. They kind of wanted him to start, so they wanted someone to come in and be in the closer role. They didn't really give it to me or the other guy, so they kept us there all year, and for the most part I just came in and we struggled as a team anyways, so I just ate up innings as I got my opportunity." Schwaab came out of his 2014 junior season with a 1-1 record and 6.06 ERA in 14 games, seeing just 16.1 innings on the mound. 

Schwaab accomplished the feat of transitioning from junior college baseball, to top-tier Division I baseball; especially moving into the SEC. 

"It was a big adjustment honestly. We had very high intense games at Crowder, but for the most part like you said its junior college. There's not that many fans in the stands, there's not that much pressure coming from your coaching staff, but that was definitely something I needed to adjust to, because I wasn't used to being in the spotlight. When I came out in the beginning of the year I struggled, but started to pick it up towards the end of the year and started really opening peoples' eyes in my senior year. It was definitely a hard adjustment for me, but for the most part we played a lot of good competition in junior college as well. There are guys going to big Division I schools every year that we were playing, so it was hard, but it was also easy."  

Moving into 2015 was good for the closer because, "that evolved into an even better year, because at that point [right handed pitcher] Keaton [Steele] was gone and Breckin [Williams] was the closer, so I was there to setup for Breckin. It all worked out, so at the same time I wasn't too upset about the amount of innings I had because I got to go play that next summer in the up into the Cape Cod League so it ended up turning out into being a good year." As the setup man in a dominant back end of the bullpen for the Tigers, Schwaab geared a 2-1 record in 2015 with a 3.81 ERA going 52.0 strong innings in 26 games with 50 strikeouts. 

2015 was a big year for Schwaab as he graduated college and was anticipating his next move. He knew the New York Yankees were interested in him, but said, "My senior year I had a couple of other teams talking to me. Really everybody had the same idea of where I was going to go, you know late round guy, possibly free agent, so I kinda knew what to expect. After seeing I didn't get drafted I didn't really know where I was going to go or whom I was going to end up with."

His dream of playing professional baseball didn't fade quickly though. "My coach called me, Coach Jackson, and said, 'You've got somebody that wants to sign you, and they're going to call you in the next couple of days.' Twenty minutes later, the Yankees call; I did not expect that at all, but at the same time I'm really glad it happened that way. I'm really glad to be in this organization and it's been a lot of fun with a lot of great guys. I never would have thought to be able to experience such a positive vibe in being in professional baseball. We're playing in a lot of beautiful parks, and coming from the SEC, that's hard to top."

Schwaab played in the summer of 2015 with the GCL Yankees and with the Pulaski Yankees, compiling a 2-1 record and 1.16 ERA in 17 games. Again the closer had to make an adjustment continuing to move up the ladder in the baseball world.

"Coming into pro ball I knew it was going to be a little bit more individualized, knowing that I'm going to be more focused on myself and doing everything I need to do that correct, instead of really focusing on the team and what I need to do for this guy and that guy, and all the other stuff that comes along with college baseball. For me, I knew I just needed to get back to pitching on my strengths and obviously staying healthy. For me, I really just wanted to attack the zone to show these hitters, show this organization, I'm not scared to pitch and you know when that happened, good things followed. At that point, I got moved up and hooked up with [pitching coach Justin] Pope [in Pulaski]. He really helped me out by telling me to not put too much pressure on myself, keeping it free and easy. He is a really great guy and I'm fortunate enough to be able to work with him again this summer. Even when I had little hiccups in mechanics or whatnot, we fixed it the next day if not that moment whenever I realized it was happening."

Through the first 37 games of the 2016 season, Andrew Schwaab has helped slam the door on opponents. The RiverDogs call on the closer to Schwaab the deck, as he holds a 3-1 record with a 2.57 ERA in 14.0 innings with 18 strikeouts with 6 saves in nine chances.

"It's been a lot of fun and you know it was unexpected to not get drafted especially at this point, but I'm not upset about it, not overwhelmed with anything out here. I'm just trying to do the best I can do."