#25 - RHP Matt Svanson
Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Sweeper: 50 | Cutter: 35 | Command: 50 | Overall: 40
Background: Svanson signed for just $50,000 in 2021 after being selected in the 13th round by the Blue Jays out of Lehigh. In four seasons at Lehigh, he posted a 4.49 ERA over 146 1/3 innings, primarily working as a starter. In his first full season of pro ball, Svanson was used in the Dunedin Blue Jays’ rotation before ultimately transitioning into a relief role by year’s end, a role he has exclusively pitched in since. Svanson broke out in his first season as a full-time reliever, showcasing a mix of strikeout stuff and groundball ability, which ultimately led to him being traded to the Cardinals for Paul DeJong.
Scouting Report: Since joining the Cardinals organization, Svanson has been one of the most productive relievers in the system, posting a 2.76 ERA over 84 2/3 innings, while converting each of his 38 save opportunities as the Springfield Cardinals closer. Despite sitting in the mid-90s on his fastball and topping out close to triple digits, Svanson doesn’t possess the electric stuff that profiles in the back end of a big-league bullpen. He fits the mold of a quintessential east-west reliever who will live or die by his ability to consistently generate groundball outs. Thus far in his minor league career, he has been able to do that successfully, but watching him face more advanced competition at Triple-A this coming season will be eye-opening.
Svanson primarily attacks hitters with his sinker and sweeper, both of which grade out about average, though, the former grades out as the better pitch. His fastball sits in the 95-96 mph range, generating decent depth and heavy arm-side run. The pitch gets on right-handed hitters quickly and is an elite groundball generator when he locates it effectively low in the zone. When Svanson gets in two-strike counts, he’s also not afraid using the pitch up in the zone to induce whiffs. Svanson’s primary whiff-inducing offering, however, is a mid-80s sweeper with 12” of glove-side movement. While the pitch doesn’t possess any outlier traits, it’s a solid offering that he shows decent feel for. In 2024, Svanson added a low-90s cutter to his mix—a pitch that Cardinals catching prospect Jimmy Crooks helped him refine. However, the pitch still needs work. He has yet to show the necessary feel for it, and it would benefit from being on the opposite end of gyro, generating more glove-side movement. I still think he should almost exclusively use the sinker and sweeper against same-handed batters, but I also believe the cutter has a place in those pesky opposite-handed matchups where he tends to struggle.
Reducing his sinker and sweeper usage in favor of a hopefully more refined cutter would be ideal. Speaking of those opposite-handed batter situations, they are without a doubt the biggest Achilles' heel in his profile. Svanson had no trouble using his east-west mix against righties, holding them to a .247/.321/.312 slash line in 2024, but he couldn’t find anywhere close to that success against lefties. Left-handed hitters teed off on him, slashing .342/.440/.500, and that was against Double-A competition. Svanson simply doesn’t have the pitch mix to consistently get lefties out, which could become a major issue as he moves up. It’s going to be vital for his cutter to continue developing, and I would even experiment with finding either a changeup or a bullet slider to add to his mix.
Future: More than likely, Svanson projects as a groundball-generating middle-relief option best suited for right-on-right matchups, where his east-west arsenal can be most effective. He was recently added to the Cardinals' 40-man roster, showing that the organization has some confidence in his long-term future as a reliever. Although he may struggle against opposite-handed batters, it will be crucial for him to rework the cutter and potentially add another secondary offering designed for those matchups to maximize his outlook as a middle-relief option. Otherwise, he could very well be destined for a back-and-forth role between Memphis and St. Louis.
