SWARZAK Anthony

Post columnist Steve Serby caught up with Mets reliever Anthony Swarzak for some spring training Q&A.

Q: What is your message to Mets fans?

A: My message this year is be positive. Be positive, it’s a long season, you’re not gonna win the World Series or lose the World Series in the first month of the season or in spring training, so just calm down, all right?

Q: Why would you say that?

A: Oh, I have Twitter and Instagram and I’m reading all kinds of stuff. All the fans have a voice these days.

Q: The fans have been waiting for a championship since 1986.

A: Well absolutely, and rightfully so, man. They have a right to be fired up, absolutely. Hopefully their waiting is over this year.

Q: Do you get a sense for how good this team can be yet?

A: Absolutely. It seems like the theme in camp is confidence ’cause everybody’s got it here for sure. You see the guys throwing and warming up, and it’s only the first week and guys are really taking their bullpen serious, they’re taking their extra work serious, everybody’s working out in the gym together. ... It’s gonna be a lot of fun.

Q: What do you think about playing on the big stage in the biggest market?

A: I think it’s great. I know that was my dream as a kid ... to play Major League Baseball, and in your mind you play that up to be the biggest stage. And then you get to the big leagues, and some stages are bigger than others. That’s definitely New York. You have to just be confident and be prepared, and anything else’ll take care of itself. Preparation takes away a lot of anxiety, preparation takes away a lot of nerves. If you’re prepared for that moment, you’re gonna do well.

Q: How would you sum up manager Mickey Callaway?

A: Knowledgable ... and a fierce competitor. He’s a gamer. We went out there on the golf course the other day and the guy didn’t hit any warm-up balls, didn’t do anything, he steps out on the first tee and just locks it in and hits a ball 310 right down the middle. That’s kind of how he is. He’s gonna get in the moment, and he’s gonna make adjustments when he needs to. He’s always gonna put the team first. As a manager, I know he’s gonna try to take the team, put it on his back, take responsibility for stuff, and be accountable. He’s everything you want as a big-league manager, he really is.

Q: What did you take away from his opening address?

A: I was happy how relaxed he was. I didn’t really know how it was gonna go. Just like Mickey does, he ate it up. He loves it. He’s the right man for the job.

Q: Describe pitching coach Dave Eiland.

A: Very in-depth with pitching mechanics and very knowledgeable. It seems like he genuinely cares about every guy that he’s working with, and he’s open to suggestions and he knows the same thing doesn’t work with every guy. It’s gonna be a fun year. This coaching staff really knows how to get their guys going.

Q: The bullpen.

A: I think that we’re gonna be very good. We got a lot of guys down there that do a lot of different things. We got some righties down there that could get lefties out, we got some lefties that could get righties out.

Q: How would you sum up your 2016 Yankees experience?

A: A wasted opportunity. ... They had some trades go down, and they had some injuries, and they had some holes to fill in the middle of that bullpen, and they tried to give me an opportunity to fill that role, and I did not do a good enough job to keep that role. I had to fight for another spot the following year because I did not pitch well for the Yankees. Now it ended up working out, I had a great year last year. I was very close, I felt some really good things when I was pitching with the Yankees, I just couldn’t repeat it.

Q: Tell the story about meeting general manager Brian Cashman in spring training that year.

A: I become a free agent for the first time, and I went to camp with the Cleveland Indians. I made their team out of camp. I got designated [for assignment] a month after the season started, and a month after that I go to South Korea. I pitched there for the remainder of the season, and then I came back here. So with that being said, I had right around five years of major league service time. I pitched in South Korea for three months. Of the 14 years in my pro ball career. And I meet Cashman, and he introduced himself, and he said, “Oh, Swarzak, you’re the Korean pitcher!” (laugh).

Q: What was your immediate reaction when he said that?

A: I said, “That’s me!” And then I just kind of thought about it, and I said some things to myself, but I won’t tell you what I said (chuckle).

Q: Korea was where you found your slider.

A: Yeah, I threw a lot of ’em, that’s for sure. I had to. Their baseball style is a little different. They’re geared toward contact and not striking out, and that’s not the case over here over these last few years, so I learned to pitch a little different over there. I found a breaking ball over there, absolutely.

Q: What was the worst minor league bus ride?

A: I’d have to say when I was in Scranton with the Yankees in 2016, the bus broke down on the side of the highway. That was the first time I’ve had that experience. That was pretty crappy.

Q: Aaron Judge was a teammate there.

A: He’s such a gentle giant. He’s gonna be the guy out there signing autographs until somebody tells him to go inside. ... He’s just a nice person. He’s gonna put other people ahead of him.

Q: What’s it like pitching to him?

A: Just like it is pitching to everybody else. He’s just another person.

Q: You’re not intimidated by anyone.

A: No, I don’t really need to be. If these guys are really good at what they do, they’re gonna fail seven out of 10 times. So that gives me some pretty good odds. I don’t need to be scared of anybody, I just need to make my pitch.

Q: Tell me about that 50-day minor league suspension for violating the drug abuse policy while with the Twins in 2007.

A: I’d rather not.

Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?

A: I don’t admire any other athletes in any other sports. I know that sounds cocky, but we’re all just people, man. Those guys play basketball or football or curling, whatever it is, that’s what they do, this is what I do, and I don’t try to pretend like I know what they’re going through.

Q: A message to Mets fans about yourself.

A: I’m gonna give you everything I got every day, no matter what.