Maine’s Swift and Bordick facing challenges of new season

How do you follow a season in which you finished second for the National League’s Cy Young Award? How do you bounce back from a season in which you hit 51 points lower than the previous year?

Former University of Maine baseball stars Billy Swift and Mike Bordick will answer those questions during this major league season.

Swift pitched to a 21-8 record with a 2.82 earned run average for the San Francisco Giants last season. Bordick, the shortstop for the Oakland Athletics, slipped to .249 after being the American League’s 10th leading hitter at .300 in 1992.

Both players believe they had productive springs, and Swift followed that up with seven shutout innings in a 2-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Swift struck out three and pitched a three-hitter with no walks.

Bordick went 0-for-2 in his 1994 debut, an 11-7 loss at frigid Milwaukee on Tuesday.

It was a relaxed Billy Swift who devoted a significant portion of spring training to fine-tuning his change-up. He gained a lot of confidence from his 1993 season, but he knows expectations will be higher this year.

“There’s always going to be pressure after you win 20 games. It’s expected of you again,” said Swift. “My big thing is my health. If I can stay healthy, with the team I’m with, there’s a good chance to win a lot of games.

“I don’t think about winning 20. It isn’t that easy. But if I’m out there as much as I can be, if I can make another 35 starts, and I can keep us in games, we’ll win a lot of those games,” said Swift. “We’ve got a good team offensively and defensively.”

Swift made 34 starts last year and pitched 232 2/3 innings, both career highs.

“I now know I can pitch over 200 innings and that has helped my confidence,” said the 32-year-old Swift.

The South Portland native and former Maine All-American said his work on his change-up has left him with a pitch he feels he can throw in any situation.

He was happy with his outing against Pittsburgh. “I stayed in control, I didn’t overthrow too much and I kept them off-balance,” he said.

Bordick spent his spring training working out the kinks of middle infield play and turning the double play with second-year second baseman Brent Gates and “learning about (new hitting instructor) Jim Lefebvre’s offensive philosophy.

“Things went well in both aspects,” said the 28-year-old Winterport native. “Jim’s got a lot of drills designed to keep your weight back and enable you to stay through the ball. I closed up my stance just a little to eliminate some movement.”

Bordick has one of the most open stances in major league baseball but as the pitcher begins his delivery, Bordick brings his front foot toward the plate. For that reason, a lot of pitchers have tried to jam him.

“It’s helped me with the inside pitch. By cutting down on the movement, it’s made my bat a little bit quicker,” explained Bordick. “I feel good about it.”

He said he and Gates turned double plays really well in spring training.

Bordick’s drop in average wasn’t his biggest disappointment in 1993.

“My biggest disappointment was my lack of execution as a situation hitter. I really want to improve on that. I’ve always considered myself a role player, and being a situation hitter is my most important job,” said Bordick. “I had opportunities to do things like move runners, put down a bunt and execute the hit-and-run, but there were times I didn’t get them done.

His other goal for the season is to “be as consistent as possible defensively. I want to help our pitching staff. You can’t give teams extra opportunties.”