It’s safe to say Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson isn’t off to the greatest of starts to the season. Heading into the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the struggling shortstop was batting just a meager .181, with an alarming 38 strikeouts in just 29 games.
Swanson’s slow start finally reached a point where action needed to be taken, with manager Craig Counsell demoting him to eighth in the lineup ahead of the series opener in Pittsburgh.
“Yeah, I think really mainly we just decided to move Dansby in the order for now and really flip-flop him and Carson [Kelly], essentially, is how I see it,” Counsell said ahead of the game on Tuesday.
“Dansby’s an offensive player who’s on the far end of streakiness and just who he is as a hitter,” Counsell said. “And he’s in a little bit of one of the ruts right now. In the good stretches, he can carry a team for 10 or so days and be the best offensive player. That’s just where we’re at right now. He’ll get out of it. His defense has been phenomenal and exceptional. We’ll just try to get him in one of those good stretches.”
It’s safe to say Swanson has handled the change with grace.
Swanson hit his fourth home run of the season in the series opener on Tuesday, before recording a three-hit game in the Cubs’ lone loss of the series on Wednesday. However, it was his contributions in yesterday’s series finale that point to the light at the end of the tunnel.
Down two runs in the fifth inning against Paul Skenes, a pitcher the Cubs have become all too familiar with over the last year, Swanson hit his second home run of the series. What followed was nothing short of magical.
Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki followed his blast with back-to-back homers of their own, the first time Skenes had ever given up three home runs in an inning in his career. The Cubs’ rally, ignited by Swanson, was all they needed to take the lead, not looking back in what turned into an 8-3 victory.
Swanson finished the series with a .545 batting average to go with a slugging percentage of 1.091, all while only striking out once. While still early in the season, a simple lineup change may have been all the Cubs needed to break Swanson out of his slump and be the contributor they’re counting on him to be.