Lake Zurich’s Svanson brings some heat for Cards on rough day at Wrigley
Had Matt Svanson been an early bloomer, he might have taken a different sports path.
At his current 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, coaches would have tried to convince him to play offensive line at Lake Zurich, a school renowned for its football program.
Instead, the right-handed pitcher had a late growth spurt and became the first Lake Zurich grad to reach Major League Baseball, making his debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on April 17 against the New York Mets.
“I got to do it in Citi Field, too, in front of a pretty packed crowd,” Svanson said Friday. “So I really had to focus on going in and doing my job. But afterwards, being in the dugout when I was done, it was an absolutely surreal moment.”
Maybe not as surreal as taking the mound at Wrigley Field, which he did in the eighth inning of Friday's 11-3 loss by St. Louis. Svanson did his part, keeping the Cubs homerless and scoreless, lowering his season ERA to 2.84 in 14 appearances.
He actually grew up a fan of the Boston Red Sox, following the lead of his father, Tim. But trips to the ballpark were usually at Wrigley or Milwaukee.
“When I was younger, I would come to Cubs games all the time,” Svanson said. “I would have to get a score sheet and keep score. I'd be there first inning and stay all the way through the ninth inning, doesn't matter if it's 40 degrees or whatever. A mix of the Brewers too, we liked to go up there and tailgate.”
One fun fact about being a Red Sox fan, his father grew up in the Philadelphia area, not Boston.
“Pretty much, it was a feud with his brother, because his brother was a Yankees fan,” Svanson said. “He was like, “Screw you, I'm being a Red Sox fan.' So he had that fandom and passed it to me.”
More family connections led to his college choice. Both parents, his sister, uncle and grandfather attended Lehigh, a high-academic school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. So during high school Svanson sent an email to the baseball coach.
“I wrote, 'Hey, I'd love to play baseball here but want to get in for academics,” he said. “And he's like, ‘Yeah, sure, I guess we've got a spot for you.’ It was not like I had to try out for the team, but no scholarship. Going in, I was not the highest-prized prospect by any means.”
That changed when the velocity began to increase. Svanson's sinker is averaging 96.6 mph this season. His catching partner growing up, Trevor Niedzwiecki, probably had the best view.
“Going into college, he was probably 88 to 92, then coming back from college, it started going up to 95 to 97,” Niedzwiecki said from the seats behind home plate. “That's when I knew things were starting to get real and he had a chance to get to 'The Show,' and here he is.”
Svanson has a simple explanation for the massive improvement — hitting the weight room and getting stronger. He thought losing a season due to the pandemic helped as well, because he could focus on strength and pitching mechanics. The ERA from his sophomore year at Lehigh in 2019 to his senior year in '21 went from 6.42 to a Patriot League-best 2.30.
On draft day in 2021, Svanson and his friends weren't sure what to expect. He eventually went to Toronto in the 13th round and was traded to St. Louis in 2023 for another suburban native, Antioch's Paul DeJong.
“Trevor and I were over at his house,” high school teammate Brian Croke said. “It was the third day and he wasn't really sure when he was going to get drafted. So we were outside playing horseshoes in the backyard. His mom and dad came running out, 'Matt, you got drafted!' So we ran inside and missed when they said his name.”
Croke said the friend group noticed Swanson's arm talent as early as third grade, when they used to play a game called wall ball at recess, where one group tries to block a tennis ball thrown at the wall.
“When Matt was throwing,” he said, “everyone would clear out.”
Svanson hit an even 98.0 mph twice on Friday, according to StatCast, so the Cubs could relate to that feeling in the eighth inning.