PITTSBURGH — Dansby Swanson is a realist when it comes to self-assessment.
The Chicago Cubs’ shortstop knows he hasn’t hit well enough as April turns into May. Among the 168 qualified major-league hitters, Swanson’s .240 on-base percentage was tied for eighth-lowest entering Wednesday, while his 69 wRC+ ranks in the bottom 10%. Swanson’s offensive production hasn’t been what he and the Cubs envisioned after he underwent offseason sports hernia surgery to be fully healthy coming into the year.
“It’s been pretty rough, I’m the first to admit that,” Swanson told the Tribune. “For me, the biggest thing is just mentally getting in the space of you can’t get a whole month back in a day, right? You’ve got to continue to put together quality at-bats, and I think a lot of it’s just giving myself the permission to go and be myself and go play and understand that I can help this group win in so many other areas, not just offensively.”
Swanson understands, though, that offensive numbers are typically the most scrutinized and garner the most attention. He is trying to stay focused on the right things, and the wins the Cubs continue to pile up have helped.
“I’ve had plenty of slow starts in my career, I don’t know if it’s starting to become like a thing that I just start slow,” Swanson said. “But definitely get into a good head space and just go and play and trust in my ability.”
The first two games this week against the Pittsburgh Pirates suggest Swanson might be starting to get going. He homered in Tuesday’s win, his first long ball since April 8, and tallied three singles and a run in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Pirates in a game overshadowed by a fan’s scary fall onto the right-field warning track in the seventh inning.
Wednesday marked Swanson’s first three-hit game of the season, ending the month on a high note. He owns a .203/.256/.382 slash line through 31 games.
“It’s always good to get hits, those are something that you never obviously take for granted,” Swanson said after Wednesday’s game. “But being able to the past few days being able to get solidified just in the work that I’m doing and get some clarity in what I’m doing, sometimes that can go a long way, just to be able to take that into a game and be able to just go compete with confidence and whatever happens happens.”
Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson lets go of his bat as he strikes out against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 26, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Swanson hasn’t carried his offensive woes into the field, as his defense is still at a standout level. But as a hitter who self-describes as an overthinker, it’s been a balance for Swanson to avoid trying to do too much in the cage as he looks to get on track in the batter’s box. For hitting coach Dustin Kelly, helping players navigate the mental side as much as the mechanical elements is an important part of his job. When evaluating Swanson’s struggles, Kelly pointed to his tendency to chase fastballs up in the zone, something Kelly noted the 31-year-old hasn’t often done in the past.
“We recognize it, he recognizes it and and just getting back on time with the fastball,” Kelly said to the Tribune. “He’s gotten some fastballs to hit recently that he’s just missed and fouled off, and that’s put him in some counts a little bit later in the count that maybe he shouldn’t have been in if that ball moves forward. So he’s historically hit the fastball really well, and now as he’s got this month underneath him and we’ve ironed out a couple mechanical things that, hopefully the fastball production starts to tick back up for him.”
Mechanically, Swanson has worked on maintaining his lower half, which sometimes can get out of whack, and making sure his hand placement and bat angle are consistently where they need to be. But Kelly believes it all comes back to fastballs.
All three of Swanson’s singles on Wednesday came off fastballs. In the third inning, he connected on an elevated 96.3 mph heater from Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski and then pulled a 93.8 mph inside sinker off the right-hander for another single in the fifth. Swanson ended his night going up the middle on closer David Bednar’s 98.6 mph fastball down in the zone.
“It’s like, ‘OK, I’m up there looking to hit heaters, I’m going to stay on fastball timing, I’m already doing a great job of laying off spin out of the zone so I’m going to set my sights for this heater and be ready to go for it,’” Kelly said.
Manager Craig Counsell moved Swanson from No. 5 in the order, where he had hit since their domestic opener in late March, to the eighth spot for the first two games of their series in Pittsburgh.
“Dansby is an offensive player who’s on that far end of streakiness and just kind of who he is as a hitter,” Counsell said. “And yeah, he’s in a little bit of one of the ruts right now and then the good stretches he can carry a team for 10 or so days and be your best offensive player. So that’s just where we’re at right now. He’ll get out of it. His defense has been phenomenal and exceptional.”
Counsell conveyed the batting order change to Swanson before Tuesday’s game, a decision the veteran said he didn’t take personally, particularly because Counsell is always positive and giving good advice. Swanson isn’t dwelling on where his results ultimately come from in the lineup.
“He’s helping being like, ‘Hey, I believe in you,’” Swanson said. “At times you can feel so far off, but you’re never as far off as you seem. He’s just so positive in that, and at the end of the day, no matter where I hit, eighth, ninth, first, second, it doesn’t matter. … What matters is contributing to the team’s success and that can be different for everyone.
“I’m excited to put a month behind me and move on.”
Originally Published: April 30, 2025 at 7:42 PM CDT