It seems a daily thing to see a complaint on Atlanta Braves social media about the Braves’ starting shortstop, but are fans perhaps not aware of just what they have?
Within the long history of the Atlanta Braves, there have been two Hall of Fame third basemen, MVP candidates at second and first base, and multiple All-Stars at catcher. However, the team’s history at shortstop has not been very stable and not very good overall.
The Braves have had the pleasure of one Hall of Fame player playing the position in Rabbit Maranville, but at this point, that was 100 years ago. In just the last decade, Dansby is the sixth regular shortstop the Atlanta Braves have deployed.
However, most Braves fans were prepared for more from Swanson when he arrived. He was a #1 overall selection in the draft and had been ranked in the top 10 among all prospects of baseball before arriving, drawing comparisons to Derek Jeter. Many were thinking that meant Swanson would be making incredible contact with excellent baserunning and his defense would be overcome by his offensive contributions. His first introduction to Braves fans in 2016 seemed to follow that indication, as Swanson hit .302/.361/.442 with 3 home runs and 3 stolen bases over 38 games.
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What many seemed to miss in those rankings is exactly why Dansby was ranked so highly. Few people thought Swanson was going to be an elite offensive player – in fact, many thought Swanson was going to be a player you would NOT want to own in fantasy baseball. Where the Jeter comparisons came into play in Swanson’s incredibly high baseball IQ. He was a tremendous coach on the field, able to see the game in a wide-angle view and keep others involved in a way that is incredibly unique.
Last evening’s game with Milwaukee provided a great moment of exactly that. With runners on first and third late in the game, the infield was playing back at double-play depth, conceding the run to get two outs. Instead, Swanson received a hard hit ground ball right to him and immediately went home. The play turned into a run-down, and during the rundown, Swanson was quarterbacking who should come into the run-down next and checking runners to ensure third base was covered and runners were not going to advance. In the end, he applied the tag, and he was ready immediately to throw.
Even though the work with the bat has not been tremendous this year, there are signs of growth there as well. Swanson has increased his hard-hit rate by over 4% this season and has an ISO better than his rookie year. Meanwhile, Swanson ranks in the top 5-10 in most every defensive metric for shortstops in baseball.
The Atlanta Braves are building a young team based around their pitching. Having a player like Dansby Swanson who can be a plus defender with huge leadership on the field is a big asset for the young pitchers as they can be confident throwing their best stuff with the defense behind them. If the Braves were to make Swanson available, there’d be 29 teams ready and willing to offer significant packages to acquire him.