It’s been a rough start to 2021 for the Atlanta Braves shortstop. And looking at the numbers, there’s a reason for hope and concern.
If you’ve read any of my articles over the years — first of all, thanks — then you’ll know that Dansby Swanson is one of my favorite players on the Atlanta Braves.
As a big fan of the college game, Swanson was a polarizing figure at Vanderbilt where he led them to a College World Series title and then was drafted first overall.
The Braves make the big trade for him and many fans — and the marketing department — started trying to make him the face of the franchise.
You all know the story, Dansby has never lived up to that level of hype, and now the fanbase is split on whether or not he’s the future shortstop for the Braves.
The 27-year-old really started to show signs of turning things around to start the 2019 season, but an injury derailed that potential breakout season.
Last year may have been his best season yet. He posted a career-high 1.9 WAR, and of course that came in just a 60 game season.
That led many to believe he could be primed to breakout in 2021, and is partly why one of my bold predictions before the season was he would make the All-Star team.
Right now he’s far from being an All-Star slashing .179/.267/.284 with a wRC+ of 56 and an OPS of .550.
It’s been really hard to watch Dansby so far this season, especially with his K% at 32 — well above his career average of 23.4 percent.
However, what’s puzzling about Dansby when you look at this Baseball Savant page, is that he’s not chasing balls and he has solid hard-hit rates. And his BABIP isn’t terrible at .262, so it’s not like he’s been super unlucky.
The simple fact is, he’s just swinging and missing way too much. His Whiff% ranks in the 22nd percentile — that’s not good.
His other metrics are pretty much on par with his career norms. In fact, his average exit velocity of 90.2 MPH would be the highest of his career.
It’s such an unusual thing to see as Dansby is not chasing a ton of pitches outside the zone this season, but he’s also not hitting the pitches he swings at in the zone.
Hopfeully this is just a timing issue for Dansby and he can figure it out. We talk about it on our latest podcast (that should come out on 4/25/2021), but it almost seems like he’s feeling the pressure to do more in this lineup and trying to pull a home run every time.
I still believe in Dansby, someone just needs to sit him down and remind him who he is and the type of player he can be — that’s all we need from him. Give me the version of Dansby Swanson that hits .275 with 15-20 home runs and plays solid defense at a primary position.