Two Atlanta Braves SS Prospect Among MLB Pipelines Top Ten

So Far So good

Swanson moved from second base to shortstop for his junior season has proved he belong there. He’s a solid hitter with an advanced grasp of technically sound hitting. Although he had a late start after being hit with a Yoan Lopez fastball in a sim game and appeared in just 22 minor league games for Arizona’s low A team at Hillsborough.

He managed 99 PA in 22 games but proved his bat was as solid as scouts believed posting a .289/.394/.482/.876 that included seven doubles, a three triples and a homer accounting for 11 of his 24 hits. He walked as often as he struck out – 14 times each –  and drove in 11 runs will scoring 19. While he can turn on a ball and deliver a home run, at the plate he’s a patient hitter who makes consistent hard contact and drives the ball top all fields.

After the trade of Andrelton Simmons the Braves needed a top notch middle infielder to pair Albies and Swanson fits that role perfectly. While no one can be expected to make all of the plays Simmons made Swanson will fill the role nicely and adds the thing the Simba lacked; a consistent, dependable bat.  He’s often compared to Derek Jeter and not just for this play, though it does look familiar doesn’t it?

The trait that he gets most praise for is his makeup and you can see it in his the way he looks at his role.  In an interview for the Vanderbilt Hustler they asked him what it took to become “greatest player who’s every played at Vanderbilt.”

"“To me it’s more than stats,” Swanson said. “It involves a lot of creating your own legacy here. Having this place be forever changed because I was in it. I try to make a great impact on the people most importantly. The program, you just encompass everything. You can hit 1.000, but if you’re not a great person, then you’re not a winner in my book. You have every aspect of life in it: Academics, baseball and put it all together, and I wanted to be the best at each of those.”"

In the same article James Beavers, the head coach of Swanson’s travel team the East Cobb Yankees says Swanson is a winner.”

"“Dansby’s just special,” said Beavers, who has coached a litany of great shortstops including Stephen Drew and Gordon Beckham. “He’s just a special kid in a lot of ways. We used to talk about (Derek) Jeter having ‘it.’ You don’t know what it is, it’s just ‘it.’ That’s what I’ve always felt Dansby has. You can’t put your finger on everything he does, it’s just ‘it.’ He just makes everything happen right. Good things happen to somebody like him.”"

It’s no wonder that Swanson made the top ten list Those are things the Braves haven’t had since Chipper Jones left and really needed for the long haul ahead.