swisher-reax-2013-horiz-cc.jpg

It's been an eventful -- if not entirely successful -- first summer in Cleveland for the Indians' Nick Swisher.

(Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With big contracts comes big pressure, but Nick Swisher, he of 1,000-watt smile, off-the-charts optimism and can-do attitude, would certainly avoid such a trap.

From the moment he was introduced to Cleveland in January after officially signing the biggest free-agent deal in Indians' history, Swisher seemed like the happiest man in the world. He still does, but a four-year, $56 million deal can be a tough thing to lug in and out of the cleanup spot four or five times a night.

On Monday, manager Terry Francona officially moved Swisher from fourth to second in the lineup. It may last for a couple of weeks, it may last for the rest of the year.

"I'm one of those guys who puts a lot of pressure on themselves," said Swisher, regarding his contract. "You want to live up to that. You don't want to let anyone down. I think that was probably half my battle. I was worrying so much about that and I forgot about going out there and playing the game you love."

Swisher's best power year was 2006 with Oakland when he hit 35 homers and 95 RBI. He enters the Indians' three-game series against Texas Friday at Progressive Field hitting .242 (76-for-314) with 45 runs, 16 doubles, one triple, 10 homers, 32 RBI and a .741 OPS (slugging+on base percentage) in 85 games.

After 85 games last year with the Yankees, Swisher was hitting .258 (78-for-302) with 40 runs, 22 doubles, 14 homers, 54 RBI and a .812 OPS.

Swisher has never been the classic cleanup hitter. He has pop, averaging almost 26 homers a year from 2005-12, but until this season he's never been a day-in, day-out No.4 hitter. In fact, he's spent most of his career hitting second and sixth.

"Coming over here, and being in the four hole, I felt like I had to hit 40 home runs and this and that," said Swisher. "I don't know if I'm capable of hitting 40 home runs. Maybe trying to play outside my game has been kind of my downfall a little bit."

Francona has seen this happen to other players. His message to Swisher has been the same since the day he signed.

"I've told Swish to just play his game," said Francona. "We just want him to be himself. We brought him over here because he's a good player. That's all he has to be.

"Swish is a conscientious guy. It's a good quality, but it can get you in a rut."

In his first at-bat in the No.2 spot, Swisher homered Monday against Seattle at Safeco Field. He added a single in his next at-bat.

"I was encouraged by that swing when he drove the ball to left center field for the home run," said hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo. "He really wants to contribute and ends up trying too hard sometimes. But he's going to get it. He'll be fine."

Besides coping with expectations, Swisher has been dealing with a sore left shoulder since spring training. He's received cortisone shots and been rested periodically, but it's something that is going to linger for the rest of the year.

At the moment, Swisher is about as healthy as he has been this season.

"This game came put you on top of the mountain and it can put you down in the gutter," said Swisher. "You have to take the good with the bad. I know what type of player I am. I've proved it every year I've been in the big leagues.

"Sometimes you have a little down year, but if we win and I don't do as well as I would like, I don't care because it's all about winning."

While the season has frustrated him from a personal standpoint, Swisher said he and his wife, JoAnna, knew early on that they'd made the right choice by signing with the Indians.

"The thing about this team is that these guys have picked me up the whole season," said Swisher. "I've been on some teams where it's not like that. Sometimes you have to figure stuff out on your own.

"Being part of this team, you know everybody has your back. Every at-bat you have, guys come up to you and say, "Hey, it's going to be all right. You're going to get the next one.' I think that's so great. Even a guy who has been in the league 10 years still needs someone to pick them up because this game is so frustrating."

The Indians trail Detroit by three games in the AL Central. So far in 12 head-to-head meetings, the Tigers have beaten the Indians nine times.

"Whether a team has your number of not, if you're not beating the team in front of you, you better be beating everybody else," said Swisher. "When you're talking about No.1 and No.2 teams in a division, we feel we have great talent and everyone knows the Tigers do."

Swisher, however, feels the Indians have something the Tigers do not.

"We feel we have nothing to lose," he said. "No one even thought we'd be here. That is a great and dangerous place to be because we are capable of great things."