By WJBC Staff
PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals have announced the 2017 Chiefs field staff with new manager Chris Swauger taking over for Joe Kruzel. Pitching coach Dernier Orozco returns for the third season in a row while Donnie Ecker will be the hitting coach. Athletic Trainer Dan Martin, also returns to the Chiefs staff while a strength and conditioning coach and a fourth coach will be announced at a later date.
Swauger, 30, led the Johnson City Cardinals to a 39-29 record last season and the Appalachian League Championship. The Cardinals finished in first place in the regular season before beating Elizabethton in the first round and sweeping Burlington in the Appalachian League Finals. They led the Appalachian League in batting average, on-base percentage and doubles while finishing second in runs scored.
Swauger also managed Johnson City in 2015 as the Cardinals finished with a 27-38 record on a team that featured 2016 Chiefs Magneuris Sierra, Edmundo Sosa, Eli Alvarez and Ryan Helsley. Swauger retired as a player during the 2014 season and transitioned immediately into coaching as the Johnson City hitting coach on another Championship team.
As a player Swauger played seven seasons in the Cardinals organization after being drafted in the 26th round of the 2008 draft out of The Citadel. He appeared in 613 games with a career average of .277 and 62 home runs, reaching as high as the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 2012 & 2013. Swauger played in the Midwest League for Quad Cities in 2009 batting .298 with four homers, 10 doubles, 22 RBI and 28 runs scored in 31 games. He won a New-York Penn League title as a player with Batavia in 2008 and a Texas League title with Springfield in 2012. He hit three home runs in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs against Tulsa including the game-winner in the 10th inning.
