Swish Slims Down For 2010

There are always a bunch of these every spring. Someone has come into camp in great shape and hoping it will lead to big things on the field. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

Here's the story on Swish from Anthony DiComo:

Nick Swisher lost 12 pounds this offseason. Which is good, because the camera supposedly adds 10.

The result was a thinner, leaner Swisher making a cameo this winter on the Emmy Award-winning comedy "How I Met Your Mother."

...

And the weight loss, for Swisher, was relatively easy. Rather than working out longer or harder, Swisher simply altered his diet, eliminating junk food and sticking to high-protein meals -- eggs for breakfast, whole wheat wraps for lunch, yogurt for a snack and chicken for dinner. His cheat meal? A Chipotle burrito, once per week.

The result, Swisher hopes, will be an improvement on the .249 average and 29 homers he amassed after taking over the Yankees' right-field job from the injured Xavier Nady.

"I feel leaner, I feel quicker," Swisher said. "And as weird as it seems, I feel stronger."

He also spoke about the new season with the defending champs:

"I think just in general, it's so exciting to come back here to a team like this," Swisher said, after arriving in Tampa well in advance of the report date for position players. "You know you have an extreme amount of talent in here, and you have the ability to win."

I don't know about you, but I had no complaints about Swisher last year, both on offense and in the field. He wasn't an all-star, but he was a very productive piece in that championship lineup, adding a nice amount of pop at the bottom of the order. If he plays like he did last year I will be pretty satisfied, if he improves, I think we'll all be pretty thrilled.