After a couple of disappointing seasons offensively, some are wondering whether Dansby Swanson is still the Atlanta Braves shortstop of the future.
Some may even suggest that the Atlanta Braves should look to replace Dansby Swanson at shortstop for the upcoming season.
I’m here to tell you that not only should Dansby be the starting shortstop in 2019, but also for the foreseeable future of this team.
Let’s not forget that the former first overall pick will play the 2019 season at the young age of 25. The best is yet to come for this kid who was clearly rushed to the big leagues as a 22-year-old in 2016.
Swanson didn’t do himself any favors by hitting .302 in 129 at-bats that year, setting himself up as the Rookie of the Year favorite entering 2017.
As everyone knows, he struggled mightily in 2017 hitting just .232 in 488 at-bats with just 6 home runs. He even was sent back down to Triple-A for 11 games where he really didn’t hit much better.
The one thing that was also killing Dansby in 2017 was that he wasn’t getting it done on defense either.
The shortstop improved a good deal offensively, in my opinion, this past season hitting .238 with 14 home runs and 10 stolen bases. Obviously, I’d love to see that batting average and on-base percentage (.304 in 2018) go up, but I’ll take double-digit home runs and stolen bases from him every year.
But the one area where Dansby really elevated his game in 2018 was on defense, and that’s really what you want from your shortstop.
I grew up in an era where Ozzie Smith was the king of shortstops. It was an era where teams put more of an emphasis on playing solid defense up the middle and letting your corner guys supply the offense.
That is just one of several reasons why Dansby Swanson needs to be our shortstop of now and the future.