In 2012, Swanson graduated from Marietta High School in Georgia with a 4.0 grade-point-average and a baseball scholarship to Vanderbilt in hand. Dansby also was team captain on the basketball team both his junior and senior years.

Swanson was born and bred to play baseball.  But he also played basketball, though baseball's always been his first love.

Swanson excelled on the hardwood in high school. A sharpshooting, fast-twitch athlete, Swanson put down his glove for four months out of every year to play basketball and would hit in batting cages just once per week.

Dansby had a storybook career at Marietta High, serving two seasons as captain of the basketball team in addition to three seasons of varsity baseball—one as a teammate of 2010 Angels first-round pick Chevez Clarke.

In 2012, the Rockies chose Swanson in the 38th round, out of high school. But he didn't sign, instead accepting a baseball scholarship to Vanderbilt.

In 2014, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series.

Swanson's nickname is Dans.

His favorites include Nomar Garciaparra (baseball player), Atlanta Braves (baseball team), Remember the Titans (movie), Criminal Minds (TV show), steak, creamed corn, fried okra and biscuits (meal), Chris Young (musician), peanut butter and cookies with a glass of milk (late night snack).

Dansby says actor Tom Hanks would play him in a movie about his life.

During the 2015 regular college baseball season, Swanson hit .347/.438/.616, swatting 9 home runs and stealing 13 bases in 15 attempts.

"I'd love to be a Big Leaguer,” Swanson says, holding back slightly. “But my ultimate goal is to be a Hall of Famer.”

Swanson says this with an understanding of what it means. He wants to be the best player he can possibly be. Would he love to be a bench player in the Majors? Sure. Will his hunger to improve himself ever be satisfied? Probably not.

He is not content with anything less than greatness.

Dansby brings character and intangibles that you can build a team around. No wonder he gets Derek Jeter and Alan Trammel comps.

In 2016, Baseball America rated Swanson as the #1 prospect in the Diamondbacks organization.

After the Braves acquired Dansby, he was rated as the #1 prospect in their farm system in the winter before 2017 Spring Training.

Swanson has leadership traits and excellent makeup. His mental package allows his physical tools to play up.

A two-sport star at Marietta, Dansby is a staunch critic of making kids specialize in a single sport (with a little help from his parents). He threw himself completely into whatever was in season, and it worked out OK in his case.

“I was always naturally driven,” Swanson said. “When I was younger, when I was playing basketball, I was like I don’t want to play baseball anymore. My parents were like, no, you need to go play baseball, too. “And when I’d play baseball, I’d go, I don’t want to play basketball anymore. And they’d say, no, just go out there and do it and have fun.”

The youngest of three children, Dansby describes an idyllic family life growing up in Cobb County, Georgia. Yeah, it got interesting with two siblings who were sports oriented as well.

But, he said, “It was not an uber-competitive environment where it makes you a complete jerk. You learned to love competition and winning."

"My family is like the model for families," he said. "We all love each other, keep in touch all the time, feel like we’re all best friends. We don’t ever argue. We are honest and open about everything,” he said. And does he realize just how special that arrangement is?

“Oh, yeah, very aware,” Swanson said. “That’s why I’m super grateful. I’ve been around a lot of different families, obviously, playing in college and high school, and it’s rare to see that.”

Dansby gets a load of media attention. And there is even more clamor for his autograph. Swanson, though, handles the requests as smoothly as he does reporters' questions.

"It's humbling to be asked to sign," he said. "The kids come first, but I'll sign for everyone as long as I have time."

Dansby grew up just outside Atlanta in Marietta—where his mother is in the high school's athletic hall of fame—and has always been a big Braves fan.

He was never into autographs himself, though.

"I was always into playing, not collecting," said Swanson, the youngest of three children. "I probably would have been too shy to ask for an autograph anyway." (May 2016)

Swanson has excelled on large stages, particularly the College World Series, so there won't be any deer-in-the-headlights moments as he joins the Braves in August 2016.  He'll play a very solid and heady defense, and it won't take long to become a general of the infield. (Mayo - MLB.com - 8/16/2016)

Swanson was a successful child actor? That's right. When Swanson was simply an amateur player with a great name, he starred in a commercial for the 2004 Aflac All-American High School Classic. (Michael Clair - MLB - 2016 - Cut4)

2017: Swanson will no longer be wearing the No. 2 jersey that he was given after making his Major League debut in 2016. He tweeted that he will be switching back to the No. 7 jersey that he donned during his brief Minor League stint and throughout his heralded career at Vanderbilt University.

Major League Baseball approved the change after reaching a financial agreement with Swanson to compensate for the already-manufactured merchandise that linked Swanson to the No. 2 jersey.  

BIG SPORTS FAN

When Swanson arrived at Nashville International Airport on January 22, 2017, he quickly made his way toward the exit while doing everything he could to remain oblivious to how his beloved Atlanta Falcons were doing in the NFC Championship Game, which had started 40 minutes before his flight landed.

"I was walking with my head down so I couldn't see anything," Swanson said. "I had my fingers in my ears so I couldn't hear anything. I didn't want to know anything."

Swanson, who is Atlanta's top prospect and the No. 4-ranked prospect in baseball, was in this situation because he had spent the previous day soaking in the splendor of witnessing his first basketball game at Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Braves shortstop described himself as "a kid in a candy store" when this opportunity arose.

Consequently, he booked his travel while forgetting about the possibility that the Falcons might be playing during a portion of his return flight. Fortunately, Swanson successfully avoided receiving any updates before he returned to his Nashville residence to watch the entirety of the NFC Championship Game, which he had recorded. Swanson caught up to live action midway through the third quarter, then basked in the glory as the Falcons advanced to the Super Bowl with a convincing 44-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.

"I was so ecstatic," Swanson said. "I get so intense when I watch games, especially big games with teams I'm passionate about. I was going nuts, to say the least."

Swanson weighed his excitement and disbelief for approximately an hour before he booked a flight to Houston for the 2017 Super Bowl on February 5. He'll be accompanied by his childhood friend Logan Marshall, who was still feeling some disbelief even after Swanson received their tickets in the mail earlier this week.

"[Marshall] was like, 'Send me a picture,' and I was like, 'I can't, because the picture wouldn't even do it justice,'" Swanson said. "I opened the envelope, and it was like a light was coming out of them. It was like 'Space Jam,' where I was taking power from somebody."

Swanson was a couple weeks shy of his 5th birthday in January 1999, when the Falcons made their only other Super Bowl appearance. Dansby wore a Michael Vick Falcons jersey as early as second grade. And he vividly remembers some top moments—like Mike Vick's memorable run to end a 2002 overtime game over the Vikings, and the 2004 playoff win over the Rams.

Basketball has long been Swanson's favorite sport, and he has fervently followed Duke. But his passion for the Falcons might now supersede all of his other interests as a sports fan. He responded to their last-second playoff win over the Seahawks in 2013 by ecstatically running up and down the halls of his dorm at Vanderbilt University.

"Duke will lose a game, and I won't be very happy about it," Swanson said. "But if the Falcons lose a game, whoever is around me is probably going to be miserable for the rest of the day. I've always loved them, and I take a lot of pride in them. Now that I play for another Atlanta team, I just think it's so cool with what they're able to do to create unity with this whole #InBrotherhood thing. God, I love that so much." (M Bowman - MLB.com - February 3, 2017)

Swanson has the epic Moroccan Argan Oil-enhanced “flow.” Yep, he has true Show Hair.

If Dansby ever wanted to retreat into anonymity and ease his burden as one of the most scrutinized players on the Braves’ roster, there’s an easy solution: the 24-year-old shortstop can just pass himself off as Charlie Culberson.

Fans and media members drifting through Braves’ Spring Training Camp at Lake Buena Vista, Florida, noticed the resemblance between Swanson and Culberson. The two infielders are fellow Georgia natives who are similar in stature, have close-cropped beards, hair straight out of a shampoo commercial and the classic attribute that scouts refer to as the “good face.”

“It happens way more often than you would think,” Swanson said. “I got a tweet from a person the other day who said, ‘Thanks for signing the ball,’ and it was clearly Charlie’s autograph. You can see a couple of ‘C’s’ and a No. 16 on it. It’s pretty funny. We both have a good sense of humor, so neither one of us gets upset about it.”

Like Barry Larkin, Joe Mauer and other players who stayed close to home, Swanson discovered that unworldly expectations and geographical ties can make for a daunting combination. He grew up in Marietta, Ga., about 20 miles from Atlanta. And he’s reminded of the organization’s run of success in the 1990s and early 2000s whenever Chipper Jones drops into camp or John Smoltz passes through on assignment for the MLB Network.

“I watched it happen in Kansas City with Alex Gordon,” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said. “He was a Nebraska guy who replaced George Brett. He was the second pick in the draft, the whole thing. And it wore on him. Gordo is a fighter, a gamer, a warrior and a grinder, and Dansby has the same makeup. When you try really hard in this game, usually things don’t work too good.”

Freed from the shackles of the daily box score, Swanson spent the winter tinkering with his game. He changed the positioning of his hands in his stance to shorten his path to the ball, and he got back to basics in the Grapefruit League during regular tutorials with Braves infield coach Ron Washington. (Jerry Crasnick - Baseball America - 3/23/2018)

Dansby talks about the value of his faith in keeping him grounded, and he shares inspirational sermons from his church in Nashville that remind him of his purpose in life to make a positive difference every day.

May 2, 2017: After taking the morning off to tend to a family issue, Nancy Swanson certainly didn't anticipate what greeted her after she was told to report to suburban Atlanta's West Side Elementary to tend to a "fifth-grade matter."  

When Swanson entered the school's media room, she initially thought the students waving Braves foam tomahawks were simply wishing her well during Teacher Appreciation Week. But the children served as the undercard for the real surprise, which occurred when her son, Dansby, strolled across the room to greet his unsuspecting mother with a bouquet of fresh flowers.  

"It was cool," Atlanta's shortstop said. "I hadn't seen her for two weeks, and being able to be here for this was really cool. It was funny, because I asked the Braves if they were going to bring anything for her, and they said, 'Yeah, flowers.' That was good, because that's what I would have gotten her. It was just cool to be here and see the kids and see how excited they were."  

When Nancy Swanson arrived at her school, she noticed a sports media truck parked outside. But she still didn't deduce that its presence for a Teacher Appreciation Week event might mean her son was there, too.

"I really had no idea," Nancy Swanson said. "It still had not hit me that [this was Teacher Appreciation Week]. I had some other things going on this week, so it was interesting that it was here. But I still had no idea, so I was extremely surprised."

While attending Marietta High School, Dansby occasionally walked a few blocks to visit his mother while she was teaching at West Side Elementary. Now that he's playing for the hometown Braves, the 23-year-old lives just a few miles from his parents during the regular season. But the daily grind of the Major League Baseball season has made it difficult for him to consistently spend time with his family.

"We don't see each other," Nancy Swanson said. "He does have a house here now. Even when he lived with us last summer, there wasn't much seeing him. Our work schedules were very different. So Saturday mornings, Sunday nights, and any other opportunity we get to see each other is nice."  (Bowman - mlb.com)

Off the field, Dansby enjoys playing with his dog, Bentley. He also likes writing and enjoys cooking.

The 2019 regular season brought out the best version of Swanson at the plate. Hitting .251 while sporting a .748 OPS and totaling 17 home runs and 65 RBIs, he was a steady source of offense in manager Brian Snitker's lineup.

Those cumulative figures are career highs when it concerns him playing for the majority of a season. Swanson also posted career highs in average exit velocity (89.8 percent), hard-hit percentage (41.6), and barrel percentage (10.1). Strikeouts have plagued the shortstop over his three-year career, but he has become adept at pouncing on mistakes, hitting the ball to all fields, and doing so with a line-drive approach.

Meanwhile, he’s also a reliable fielder. He has an above-average arm, is adept at turning double plays, and forms a killer middle infield duo with Albies. We haven’t seen what an improved or slightly fine-tuned Swanson can do over an entire season. However, while Swanson missed roughly a month due to a heel injury this season, he didn’t skip a beat when he returned, continuing to put the ball in play, make hard contact, and hold his own in the field.

If Swanson had played every day or 150 games (instead of 127), his offensive statistics would be more impressive. And Swanson was phenomenal in the Braves’ first-round playoff matchup with the Cardinals. Hitting .389, recording a .977 OPS, and totaling two RBIs, including three doubles, he was an offensive spark plug. Most notably, he had a two-out, game-tying RBI double in the ninth inning of Game 3. (Robbie Stratakos - Oct 30, 2019 - Baseball Essential)

 April 26, 2021: Swanson brought in some extra help to assist the slumping Braves before they played the Cubs.

The shortstop burned sage throughout Truist Park before the game, hoping it would spark a team that only managed one hit in 14 innings during a doubleheader against the Diamondbacks the day before.

 "All year, I've been like if it gets to a point, I'm bringing sage in here . . . and I think yesterday was finally to that point," Swanson said, according to ESPN.

 "I pretty much walked every bit of area you can find in this place, I went into. It was fun."

Swanson's idea seemed to remedy things for the Braves, as they went on to score eight runs on 10 hits in an 8-7 victory over the Cubs.

The 27-year-old infielder, who entered the game batting .173 with one home run, was part of Atlanta's offensive outburst. His first multi-hit game since April 15 included a solo homer.

"I might have to bring some tomorrow, too," Swanson said following the win.

This isn't the first time Swanson has burned sage. The Georgia native said he and his girlfriend, U.S. women's soccer player Mallory Pugh, have done it before "to cleanse the air a little bit" when necessary.  (Bryan Mcwilliam)

 2021 Season: Swanson appeared in 160 games this season and continued to be a strong asset to Atlanta’s starting lineup. His .248 batting average is comparable to his average from previous seasons. However, Swanson played longball this season more than he has in the past. He tallied 27 round-trippers this season, with two of them coming in the World Series. Overall, Swanson tallied 3.2 fWAR with a 98 wRC+ and decent defense (+3 OAA, +1.1 UZR, -7 DRS), exceeding expectations and turning in a career-best season.

In August, Swanson bypassed Denis Menke and broke the record for most home runs by a Braves shortstop in a single season. Menke hit 20 homers with the Milwaukee Braves in 1964.

What Went Right? / What Went Wrong? 

Swanson put together a third straight campaign with solid offensive inputs. His xwOBA wasn’t as good as 2019-2020, partly because he posted the lowest walk rate and line drive rate of his career, but it was still decent. He did a great job improving his plate discipline, with his highest rate of swinging at strikes and his lowest rate of chasing balls, ever, but the benefits of this were muted because he still missed a ton of pitches he swung at, and because his raw power is fairly average.

One curiosity of Swanson’s season is that despite a bunch of notable, high-leverage plays, Swanson actually finished negative in Fangraphs’ clutch score in both the regular season and postseason. That probably has more to do with some poor luck on balls in play in higher-leverage situations, but that hasn’t been a common issue for him in the past.

Road to the Title. His 56 postseason wRC+ and underwhelming .224/.265/.345 line may not show it (nor do his negative WPA and cWPA in both the regular season and postseason), but Swanson’s bat made a huge impact during the playoffs in a few key spots.

Swanson’s performance in the NLDS against the Brewers was underwhelming, as he hit .200/.200/.267 in the four-game set. His most impressive offensive stats came in the NLCS against the Dodgers, where he posted a .261 BA and collected six hits. In the World Series, Swanson accounted for four of the Braves’ runs, and his late inning heroics helped lead the Braves to their first World Series title since 1995.  (Kaitlyn Monnin@kaitlynmonnin - Dec 4, 2021)

SWANSON: Every day.

SN: Everyone? 

SWANSON: Yeah. Sometimes by coaches and people on the team. Seriously. 

SN: Who’s got the better hair?

SWANSON: I think I do. But at the same time, we have completely different hair. His hair’s longer. His goes down and then out more. Mine is more just wavy and out. I get more poofy than he does. He gets more lay-back, I get more poof. 

SN: That’s a good way to describe it. 

You came in today wearing that LeBron Lakers jersey. But you’re from Atlanta. So who’s your favorite basketball team? 

SWANSON: I'm a Lebron guy. I’ve been a big LeBron fan since he came into the league, pretty much. It’s actually my birthday present for my girlfriend. But I always, always, always cheer for the Hawks. I’m Atlanta ’til I die. Seriously. And I'm a huge Duke basketball fan. Yeah. Massive Duke basketball fan. 

SN: I didn’t know that. Have you been to Cameron? 

SWANSON: I go every year. I went to Duke-Indiana this year.

SN: Nice. I was there, too.

SWANSON: Were you really? 

SN: Sitting on press row. It’s an amazing experience.

SWANSON: I was directly across from you, then. A good friend of mine is the assistant athletic director. We keep in touch all the time. I brought (girlfriend) Mal this year because she’d never been. That place is amazing. I love it. Two years ago, I actually got to go watch practice, sit in on a scout meeting. They were playing an exhibition game. They let me watch film with them. It was cool.

SN: Did you try to learn from that? Or were you just trying to enjoy it? 

SWANSON: No, I like to learn. 

SN: I kind of figured that. 

SWANSON: One, the detail and preciseness that’s executed. If you want to be great, you’ve got to work. You’ve got to be in tune with one another. Also, too, just importance of upholding people to high standards. When practice got sloppy, they knew about it. They were told that things were not good right now. And also, up or down 30, that’s not the point. The point is that you execute what's set out for you.

It doesn't matter if you're winning 10-0 in a baseball game. Your at-bat has nothing to do with the scoreboard. It has everything to do with executing in this moment. I think you see that in all great players and all great teams. I mean, I don’t like them, but the Patriots, from the start to the end no matter the score, they are trying to execute what is set out in front of them. And I think that is probably the biggest lesson I learned. It's an exhibition game, they’re playing a D-II school and beating them by 70, and Coach K is ripping them in a time out because they got sloppy. There’s so much power behind that. 

SN: Vanderbilt still plays a pretty big role in your life. Why is that?

SWANSON: It really made me me. Coming into college, I wasn't really seen as much. I knew what I was capable of, but I played so much basketball and I just was kinda overlooked. It took me from being like Dansby Swanson to, you know, “That’s Dansby Swanson!” And just the people there. The amount of fabulous people there, they helped shaped my life. I always say that Atlanta laid the foundation for who I am, and Nashville and Vanderbilt made me who I am now. It cultivated what my parents raised me to be, and the city of Atlanta. Then it made me develop myself, basically. 

SN: Into the man you are now.

SWANSON: Yeah. That’s exactly it.  

SN: One of the first magazine pieces I did for Sporting News magazine years ago was about David Price when he was the star at Vandy. Went down and talked with him, then met with Coach (Tim) Corbin in his office. And, yeah. He really makes an impression, doesn’t he? 

SWANSON: I mean, I feel like … forever indebted sounds weird, but the amount of things that he did for me, helped me become a better man, the leadership, better player, treats me like one of his own, I tell everyone that he’s the best coach, mentor, second dad, and a friend that you can ever have. He's all four of those and he knows how to use each personality when he needs to use them. That’s the reason why everyone goes back, why there's such a culture there and such a high standard for people that do go there. It’s because it's just different when you're a Vanderbilt guy.

I’m not going to say you’re elite, but it shows that you’re in a different group. When someone goes to play basketball at Duke, there’s a different aura that surrounds those guys, and it’s the same going to play baseball at Vanderbilt. He's created that. He's made it that. It's so special. 

SN: Baseball has such ups and downs. Vandy winning the College World Series is ups, right? But last year, that wasn't much so much about the ‘ups’ for you, with the injuries and such you battled through. With an offseason to look back, is there something you take from last year? Lessons learned?

SWANSON: Well, my first year was so terrible for me. Like, just in every aspect. It wasn’t a good year. We all go through seasons in life. It was a bad season both baseball-wise, life-wise, just wasn’t a good season. Last year, for the standards I hold myself to, I felt disappointed. But at the end of the day, I know that being a part of the team, that was helping make a difference. Definitely. I definitely progressed last year. It’s hard to really convince yourself that it's progress over perfection. Last year, definitely took the step in the right direction and came into my own more as a leader, as a person, as a player, especially defensively. 

And who knows what it would have been like without the injuries? Who knows what Michael (Jordan) would have been like without Phil (Jackson)? You know, it's funny. Who knows what Tom (Brady) would be without Bill (Belichick), like there's all those things. Who knows what last year would have been without the injuries? That's the question that we can argue about all day. But dealing with that from April, from pretty much like the third week of the season on, it was difficult. Like, not many people know, but it was hard to put shirts on. It was hard to put a backpack on. 

SN: Really? 

SWANSON: Yeah. It was not a good situation. And dealing with that the entire season, it's so mentally draining, being in pain every day. And we know that. Like, why are pain pills such a big deal? Seriously, nobody likes going through pain. And I'm not trying to minimize any of that, but like going through that, being in pain pretty much every day and just almost getting numb to it, was crazy to me. It was eye-opening. But it also allowed me to look at things from a different perspective. You always go through s--- that gives you a different perspective on life, the game, the whole thing, how to do things differently and all that kind of stuff. Learned a lot. Just learned that being healthy is the most important thing, you know, and like if it was a freak thing or not, being healthy is a big, big deal. 

SN: Are you back? 

SWANSON: Yeah, I’m healthy. I’m trying to take a conservative approach this spring, because there's no point in rushing it, maybe getting myself to a setback. There’s no point in that. Sometimes you have to learn that the hard way. Don't be stubborn. Here I am, 25 now and another year wiser. Excited for things to come. 

SN: I asked a couple of people what to ask you that fans might not know, and I heard that you’re quite a voracious reader.

SWANSON: I used to hate reading. I went in phases. When I was a kid, I read a lot. I was a smart kid. When I was in elementary school, I read the first four Harry Potter books before the third grade. I was a reader. I loved it. And for some reason just got away from it. Didn’t read in high school, didn’t read in college. When someone’s telling you to read something that’s like a novel or literature, I’m like, ‘Nah.’ But when I got to pro ball, now all of a sudden, I'm not in school, not working my mind. I’m not training mentally.

You need escapes. You need to be away from the game. You need positive influencers all the time, you really do. I’m a big believer in that. So I started picking up reading and writing. I figured out in high school that I was a good writer. God gave me this ability to write. So I started doing that more, started reading more. I read a lot of, not cheesy, but personal improvement books, anything I feel like really does challenge me to be a better person. I’m not big into motivation. I think that’s a load of crap, really. If you need to be motivated to do something, then that speaks something about you. It’s about building habits, the right habits. The people who get up early and love doing what they do, it’s because that’s a habit they’ve created. That’s how I look at it. 

SN: So give me one book. One example. 

SWANSON: I’ll give you the one I’m reading right now. It’s called "Everybody Always." It’s by Bob Goff. It’s a faith-based book, talking about how to love everybody always and how it’s not easy. It’s easy to love the people who you want to be around. It’s the people who are different from you, the people who don’t think like you, how to love those kinds of people. I like to read books like that.

I don’t know if you know Amy Downs. She’s one of my really, really good friends from Nashville. She writes inspirational-type books, about how to be a better you. So I read books like that. Anything I can get positive things going through my head, the more I like to read it. It does something for me, it really does. And then I journal. 

SN: That’s something I wanted to talk about — writing. I know you’ve written a couple of Players Tribune pieces. What do you write about on a regular basis?

SWANSON: There’s a couple different things. I keep a prayer journal. Before I go to bed, I always write things I’m praying for, things I’m thankful for, just anything that comes into my head. 

SN: Is that to make sure you think about those things?

SWANSON: It’s to get them out, really. I just think there's so much power in putting words on paper and speaking them out loud. It’s one thing thinking, but you're actually making it come to life when you say things and when you write them down. There’s power in that. I do believe in that, so that's why I like to keep my prayer journal. And, too, it's cool to go back through and see, wow, how many times your prayers do get answered. It’s cool.

So I journal every night, and usually when I journal every night it's almost like positive affirmations. I write things like, “I’m confident, and I know my work today is putting me in a position to succeed tomorrow.” That kind of thing. If there are certain personal things going on, I’ll write them.

And there’s another journaling I’ll do on my computer. It'll be like 2:00 in the morning, honestly, when I write these. I don't know how I was given the ability, but I'll sit down and feel like there's someone on my heart I need to write about, and I'll just start writing. I just start typing and in 30 minutes, I'll have written like four pages. I don't edit it, just write it and I’m done. And I sent it to people that I think I should send it to and that's that. And people write back like, “Wow, I needed that,” or this or that. It comes so naturally. It’s like stream of consciousness, basically. I’ve probably done 20 of those. 

SN: Family and friends, those types of people?

SWANSON: Yeah. They're longer. Maybe I could publish a book one day, I don’t know. 

SN: You’re keeping those? 

SWANSON: I do have them all. People have asked what I plan to do with them, and I don’t know. I haven't been given that answer yet, what I should do with them. But one day I’ll do something with them. 

SN: The prayer journal, you actually physically write with pen and paper?

SWANSON: Oh yeah. I’m a big pen-and-paper guy. Yeah. I mean, technology’s cool, but I’m telling you, I’d rather put pen to paper. 

SN: I get that. It’s why my notes for this interview are here on my notebook and not on my phone.

SWANSON: It’s a lost art, it really is. 

SN: Not to be a downer, but let’s talk about another low moment, getting hit in the face with a baseball when you were with the Diamondbacks. 

SWANSON: For whatever reason, and me and my buddies were talking about this the other night. There’s a reason. We don't always understand why things happened and the way they happen, but they do. It's our job to just keep moving forward. And that happened. And who knows why it happened? I don't really have an answer for it. And I don't think I really sulked about it. I just couldn't believe it. It was just kind of like a disbelief moment, like, “There’s no way that happened.” 

SN: Where exactly did it hit you? 

SWANSON: Right here (points to his jaw). I don't know how I didn't lose any teeth or have a broken jaw. I had a pretty decent concussion. I got nine stitches on the inside of my mouth and five on the outside. So yeah, you can't really see it through my beard, but it's right here. 

SN: When I was like 10 years old, we were playing baseball in my backyard. I was playing catcher — I don’t know why we had a catcher when there were only three or four of us. And my buddy swung and …

SWANSON: Let the bat go?

SN: Yep. Hit me right on the upper lip. Didn’t break my nose, didn’t break any teeth. Thin part of the handle caught me in a perfect spot. It could have been so much worse. 

SWANSON: Amazing. I guess we all have certain things to be thankful for, right? 

SN: No doubt. That’s something I would have written down, being thankful I wasn’t in the hospital. 

SWANSON: Seriously. On that same note, the importance of being aware of those thoughts is so big for me personally. When you think non-grateful or non-positive thoughts, just to even recognize it and think, “Wow, I shouldn’t be thinking that way.” That’s big. Sometimes we get caught in the little stuff, like, “The food sucks today.” But I’m literally getting a free meal. It’s just being aware of that. You're not going to change it right away, change your thinking. But you should be able to recognize your thoughts. 

SN: You’ve never hidden your love for Atlanta. What’s it like to be back? Not as much the baseball part, but just being around the city where you grew up?

SWANSON: At the time I wasn't too happy about it. I don’t know if many people know that. I didn’t like the fact of being traded. I didn’t like that. I’m such a loyal person, that when things happen to me that I consider not loyal, it hurts. That’s just in my blood. And I wasn't sure if I was ready to be back home. I was kind of ready to start a new life, so to speak. 

SN: You can’t get much farther away than Arizona. 

SWANSON: Right? Arizona was great. I enjoyed my time out there, then all of a sudden, it’s back home to everything you’ve known. Some people like being comfortable, but at the same time it's also very different territory. Because now, all of a sudden, you can’t go to the grocery store without like having to stop and talk to different people. All of a sudden you can't just go out to eat with your buddies because people are asking for pictures, all that, you know? Your life changes, and I didn't think I was ready for that. But I think that that actually helped me that offseason because I did everything I could to put my head down and work. Didn’t look left, didn’t look right. I worked, and that was one of the biggest blessings at the time. But now, being able to be home is something I don’t take for granted. I love it. I do. I love my friends, I love my family. They're all in Atlanta. I love being able to sleep in my own bed, having my own house.  

SN: Is your place in Marrietta?

SWANSON: I was living in Kennesaw, but I just bought a new place. Not to be out of Kennesaw, but just to be by myself, to be a little more isolated, in a good way. Like now, like 20-25 minutes from my parents and not five. They’re great. I wanted to be a little more away and a little more convenient to the things on a daily basis, instead of the things I was doing once a week. There are just so many things that have happened in life. I didn't understand why I got traded and now I never would have met the girl I’m with now if I wouldn’t have been traded. 

SN: Don’t mean to pry, but how'd you meet? What's her name?

SWANSON: Mal Pugh. Her brother-in-law is Jace Pederson. Me and him are pretty much family, as close as you can be without being actual family. Ride or die. So I knew Jace before I knew anything about her. She plays soccer for the U.S. Soccer team. We never would have met, obviously, if I didn’t get traded to Atlanta. Would never have met Jace, the whole thing.

I’m thankful now, looking back at the little things that led to that. Would never have met her, never have had that blessing. When we met was after the worst year of my life, and that completely did a 180. For whatever reason, there’s a reason. You may not see it when you’re going through it, but then all of a sudden the floodgates open up. It’s pretty awesome.

SN: Last thing and I’ll let you go. This year’s Braves team could be pretty good, right? I imagine you guys are all pretty excited.  

SWANSON: Oh yeah. This year is going to be fun. It’s going to be fun because we're still young and talented, right? And we have so many good people. Not just so many really talented individuals, but talented humans. We have so many good people that care about who they are as a person. We value each other's presence, and we enjoy the camaraderie of making a family and being around one another.

To me, all the playfulness you see on the field, that’s just how it is all the time. That’s the environment we’ve created. And props to everyone for allowing us to be like that, just kind of keep the innocence of the game and our age. They just allow us to be us, and it's pretty remarkable to see all the talent that we, top to bottom, old to young. It’s not seen anywhere else. I don’t care what people say, it’s just not. I talk to buddies in different organizations and they’re just like, ‘Dude, it’s just different here.” So that's exciting. I love playing. I love winning. I have a passion for winning. So that kind of sets up well to be able to do those types of things with a team like this.  (Ryan Fagan - Dec. 4, 2021)

Swanson and U.S. soccer star Mallory Pugh announced their engagement. Pugh posted pictures of the proposal on her Instagram, as did Swanson.

Pugh was a member of the United States’ FIFA World Cup-winning team in 2019 and has scored 18 total goals for the national team. She currently plays for the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL. Swanson is fresh off his World Series win with the Atlanta Braves, and he contributed two home runs in the series against Houston.

Swanson and Pugh met through Swanson’s former Braves teammate Jace Pederson, who is married to Pugh’s sister. They started dating in 2017 and have not been shy about the relationship. Congratulations to them both.  (December 2, 2021 - by Grey Papke)

 2021 Season: Long story short, 2019 saw Swanson pound sliders (.334 xwOBA), while 2020 was a step back (.238 xwOBA) while still being ahead of what he had managed before 2019. What was particularly bad for Swanson in 2020 was his xwOBA on in-zone sliders, which was a pathetic .210 while the league managed .300. Combine that with his highest rate of in-zone sliders ever, and you have a really weird quirk for Swanson’s 2020, which despite this issue, featured a career-best .352 xwOBA.

In 2021, he didn’t get as many sliders in the zone, and his overall xwOBA on them (this shouldn’t be any surprise to you) was between his 2019 and 2020 values, at .281. The zone rate on sliders fell back to 2019 levels. The xwOBA on sliders in the zone? A perfectly reasonable .311. Of course, while Swanson “fixed” this “issue,” his xwOBA for the season fell around .020 relative to its 2019-2020 levels.  (Ivan the Great - Jan 12, 2022)

 March 4, 2022: Shortstop Dansby Swanson and outfielder Joc Pederson have signed up to be Papa John's new "pre-season pizza pros."

Tuesday, the pizza company jokingly tweeted that they are offering daily contracts to any MLB players with "too much time on your hands these days."

Well now Swanson and Pederson has joined the "pizza big leagues" and throwing on an apron.

 Friday (3-4) will be the players' first day working at a local Papa Johns.  (FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team)

 The event be Friday at a metro Atlanta Papa Johns and will not be open to the public.

Chipper Jones, in his former roles as a Braves special assistant and later as a hitting consultant, is among those who’ve helped Swanson develop into a better hitter in recent years, one who remains inconsistent but has often displayed a penchant for coming through in pressurized situations.

At spring training in 2019, Jones worked closely with Swanson on his swing, helping him have a fast start in what was his best full season until last year. Early in 2019, Jones said he thought Swanson could be a “Derek Jeter-type hitter” despite the shortstop’s .235 average and .667 OPS in his first two full MLB seasons before that one.

With respect to Swanson, the Atlanta-area native is the first to concede that he’s been a streakier hitter than most. But he also takes pride in not allowing his defense to suffer even during the worst of his slumps. Teammates and coaches have called him a “glue guy” or intangibles player who does a lot of things to help a team win — topped by outstanding defense — rather than a superstar who can put an offense on his back and carry it for long stretches, as Jones could and did.

Swanson, who is even faster than a young Jones was and also steals plenty of bases. Swanson has averaged 13 per 162 games over the past five years, and he stole nine bases this season before being caught for the first time Saturday at Colorado.

“The competitive nature — he wants to win more than anybody I know,” Austin Riley, the Braves' third baseman said. “That’s the thing, I think he puts that first. So whether it’s on the defensive side, offensive side, if he can help this ball team win, that’s all that matters.”

If he’s the captain of the infield, Swanson is also the unofficial captain of the Braves’ dugout cheering squad. Watch when a player hits a home run or scores a big run. If Swanson is not on the bases or in the on-deck circle at the time, chances are he’ll be the first player waiting to congratulate him.

“Dansby’s all about team and winning,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s a winning kid.” (O'Brien- TheAthletic.com - June 6, 2022)

July 2022: Swanson was selected to the MLB All-Star Game.

In 2022, Swanson was the only player in MLB to start all 162 games for his team. 

Swanson just had the best season of his career: with a .277/.329/.448 line, 25 home runs and 96 RBI, he achieved a 6.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) output, his highest mark yet.

He also scored 99 runs and stole 18 bases, but not only that, but he also played phenomenal defense as usual.

His 116 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) indicates that he is a well-above average offensive performer, because 100 is considered average.

Dec. 10, 2022: Swanson married USWNT/Chicago Red Stars star Mallory Pugh. The athletic pair met through a mutual friend in 2017 and began dating a few months later. 

 Swanson wasn’t always so poised. He went through a bout of anxiety before he put together three of the best years of his career, which he used to catapult himself into a free agency that resulted in a seven-year, $177 million contract. He sought help from a mental wellness coach to turn his anxiety into fuel. To understand how he morphed into the kind of person players a few years younger than him jokingly called “The Sheriff” in Atlanta, one must go back a few years.

 The 2019 season ended poorly for the Braves. Yes, the team won the National League East for the second year in a row and tallied 97 victories. But they were bounced out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion when the St. Louis Cardinals heaped 10 runs onto the backs of Mike Foltynewicz and Max Fried in the first inning of the decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series.

 Swanson played a part in that inning spiraling out of control. After the Cardinals’ first two batters reached, Swanson dived to his right on a Paul Goldschmidt infield single in an attempt to stop the lead runner from advancing. Swanson managed only to stop the ball on the edge of the outfield grass, unable to make a play. Goldschmidt made it safely to first, setting up a one-run single from Marcell Ozuna. A barrage of other mistakes and a few well-placed hits later, the Braves retired to the dugout down by 10 to prepare to face a full-strength Jack Flaherty. The Braves were doomed.

That game, which Swanson later that day called “a worst nightmare coming true,” stung. But by that point in his career, Swanson had stockpiled plenty more moments of failure and embarrassment. Swanson, 25 at the time, had lost track of what exactly caused him anxiety. A chance encounter with the friend of a licensed therapist in California led Swanson to examine why.

For years, Swanson had played in Atlanta burdened by pressure. He was a No. 1 pick out of Vanderbilt. He had been traded to his hometown team for fan-favorite and All-Star pitcher Shelby Miller shortly after beginning his pro career in 2015, a signal that the Braves expected big things from the Marietta High School product. Playing under the microscope of expectation was a strain. And struggling on such a big stage took a toll.

“When I got called up in 2016, I played really well,” Swanson said. “There’s not really much pressure when you’re performing at a good level. The next year (2017), when I was really struggling, is when I fell off the cliff with it all.”

By the end of the 2019 season, Swanson had reached his tipping point. A strong postseason at the plate aside, Swanson had assembled over his first three full seasons a batting line that could at best be described as mediocre. He batted .240 with a .694 OPS from 2017-19. Streakiness at the plate dogged him. He was worth only 3.2 WAR in FanGraphs’ formula.

Ender Inciarte, one of the players with whom Swanson was traded, had posted a .280 average with a .734 OPS during the same span. He was worth 8 fWAR. For all the pomp and circumstance of the blockbuster trade that sent Swanson to Atlanta, it was looking like Swanson wouldn’t be the jewel of the swap after all.

Then an acquaintance extended a lifeline. Swanson met Jimmy Spencer, who started the Uninterrupted platform with LeBron James and Maverick Carter in Los Angeles after the 2019 season ended. Spencer had recently been introduced by his friend Armando Gonzalez to a therapeutic tool called brain spotting; it enabled him to process his own anxieties through a combination of techniques featuring music, the therapeutic bond and gaze as mechanisms to help his brain process and integrate unresolved trauma. Swanson felt drawn to try it himself and called Gonzalez right away.

Gonzalez, then only a marriage and family therapist, couldn’t jump into work with Swanson because he wasn’t licensed to practice outside of California. But through some brainstorming, Gonzalez determined he could help Swanson if he adopted the role of a mental wellness coach, so long as they followed strict boundaries.

Gonzalez traveled to Swanson’s offseason home in Nashville. Across three days, Gonzalez did assessments on Swanson and worked with him through techniques, including brain spotting, to get to the root of what was causing Swanson to relive the anxiety of his early struggles in baseball. What they found was that the whiplash of being selected first in the draft by the Diamondbacks in 2015, being touted as the future of that franchise and then being traded in a span of six months had shaken Swanson’s conviction that he was meant to lead anybody at all. It was a jarring realization for someone whose instinct was to lead by serving others, like he had during three years at Vanderbilt.

Swanson didn’t go into blame mode post-trade. He pointed the finger at himself, wondering what he did wrong to become the first ever No. 1 pick traded within the first year of his pro career. The stress of being traded to his hometown team only increased the tension. When he scuffled for extended periods in the majors across his first four years, his anxiety about the move and his early struggles crept in. It made solving his slumps a near-impossible task.

“Dansby was playing in that space over and over, and then going home and obsessing about the results because he cared so much,” Gonzalez said. “Not just about Atlanta being his hometown but just that he for once in his life wasn’t delivering on his standard. And he was terrified of that outcome. So his brain went into survival mode searching for any adjustment he could make, anything he could change to get back to himself.”

In order to heal that part of himself, Swanson had to relive moments where he struggled. Moments when he felt as though he’d let down his team and the people who believed in him. Gonzalez and Swanson worked on flushing out that trauma and redirecting his thoughts during their first three-day immersion in Nashville. By the end of it, Swanson felt like he’d cleared a hurdle. Gonzalez noticed the difference immediately in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.  (Maria Torres - Jan 27, 2023)

Since the start of the season, the Cubs players have organized several team dinners, most recently on a Sunday night in San Francisco, in between series against the Dodgers and A’s. Jameson Taillon said he, Hosmer and Bellinger split the bill for that meal. Drew Smyly paid for another in Los Angeles, Kyle Hendricks yet another in spring training. Sometimes the pitchers and catchers get together. Other times, it’s the entire club.

“Someone said something like, ‘Man, we’ve already had three or four team dinners. That’s three or four more than we had last year.’” Taillon said. “You bring in veterans, guys who have been in winning organizations, that’s the stuff that happens.”

Said Yan Gomes, “We’re not forcing it. We’re just making it very natural. And guys are enjoying each other.”

Swanson, who benefited from positive cultures both in college at Vanderbilt and professionally with the Braves, uses two words to describe what makes the Cubs environment similar: “No egos.”

“People care about other people more than themselves. In successful places, that’s what you need,” Swanson said. “The Vanderbilt football coach (Clark Lea) texted me, asking me the one thing that stands out from what I learned at Vandy. I sent him a couple of things. But one of 'em was servant leadership. Do more for others than yourself.

“If you think about the most impactful people in your life, they were the most giving, the most serving. If that was the most impactful person to you, then why wouldn’t you do the same?”

In baseball, over the long haul of 162 games, the smallest of gestures can make a difference. Hitters sharing tips in the batting cage. Starting pitchers offering each other advice after watching their respective bullpen sessions. The Cubs are hardly the only team doing those types of things. But for this group to evolve into the Next Great Cubs Team, such building blocks are necessary. (Rosenthal - Apr 20, 2023 - The Athletic)

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and manager David Ross were struck by how much Swanson talked about winning, and how little he cared about things like marketing his brand. Swanson already had several connections to Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins through growing up in Georgia and playing college baseball at Vanderbilt. The team’s analytics department projected that Swanson would remain at shortstop longer than Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, putting data behind what could have been a personality contest or an impulsive decision.

Swanson even hears the voice of Ken Ravizza, the sports psychologist Joe Maddon once brought on as a consultant for the Cubs, reminding them to never let the pressure exceed the pleasure. “I get butterflies every Opening Day,” Swanson said, name-dropping the late Ravizza, whom he met during his time at Vanderbilt. “He would always say, ‘It’s OK if you have butterflies, as long as you get them to fly in formation.’”

“Hearing ‘Go Cubs Go’ is a lot better when you’re on the team,” Swanson said.

The team now revolves around Swanson, the Gold Glove shortstop who signed a seven-year, $177 million contract.

“Early in spring, you just want to swing at good pitches, right?” Swanson said. “I felt like I was doing that. And then as it kept going on, it was kind of like, ‘Hey man, you’re swinging at good pitches, why do you keep fouling them off?’ That’s really what it was — swing at the right pitch, foul ball, swing at another good pitch, foul ball. So there’s a little bit of frustration because you can start talking yourself into a slump or a lull — whatever you want to call it — and you have to get back to work.

“My dad called me. It was funny. He was like, ‘You remember the story of David and Goliath, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘David brought five stones to kill Goliath. If he knew he was going to be perfect, he would have brought just one. Quit trying to be so perfect.’”

That pressing is as much a part of signing the big contract as holding up the new jersey at the news conference. Swanson comes across as extremely self-aware. He knows he’s underneath a different spotlight now, even as someone who’s already been a No. 1 draft pick, a top prospect traded to his hometown team and a World Series champion.

“Can’t beat the pinstripes,” Swanson said. “There is so much to take in with a place like Wrigley. I remember growing up and watching this video that had all these amazing shortstops and highlights of Ernie Banks. Seeing what he was able to accomplish here — and how things haven’t changed (that much) — there’s still such a pure element to the game. Being able to contribute to the legacy of this organization is special.” (Mooney - Mar 31, 2023 - The Athletic)

 It felt like a fairy-tale start to Dansby's Cubs career.

Swanson had left the Braves to sign a seven-year deal with Chicago in December, in part because it was the city where his new wife, Mallory Pugh Swanson, played professional soccer for the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars.

Dansby was just two weeks into his first season in Chicago; Mallory was preparing to play for the U.S. women's national team in a World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand. Together, they were looking forward to their first of many summers in Chicago.

Then, on April 8 before a game against the Texas Rangers at Wrigley Field, Dansby and his teammates gathered in the clubhouse to watch Mallory play in a friendly against Ireland and the mood changed in an instant.

Mallory went to the ground with a nasty left knee injury, after a collision with Ireland's Aoife Mannion. Teammates and coaches surrounded her as she was carted off the field. The stunned Cubs watched it all unfold on television.

"It was definitely intense, especially because we were watching the game together as a team," recalled Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. "It turned from a cool thing and looking forward to the World Cup to immediate concern for a teammate."

The news that Mallory had torn her patellar tendon added an unexpected challenge to the couple's lives and completely altered Dansby's early months in Chicago. (Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer - June 24, 2023)

July 2023: Swanson was chosen to represent the Cubs as a reserve in the MLB All-Star Game. However, he was replaced by Geraldo Perdomo due to injury. 

Swanson chose to sign with a rebuilding team, the Cubs, knowing that he could help create a new culture and get the front office to listen.  Dansby Swanson takes his responsibilities seriously, understanding the influence and the expectations that come with being an All-Star in the first season of a seven-year contract.

“Being new and coming here from somewhere else, it’s easier to have a different perspective, a fresh perspective,” Swanson said. “In a way, I feel like I’m here as a reminder of, ‘Hey, there’s things that can be done, and different ways to look at things.’ We’ve been able to have good, honest communication about a lot of things.” 

Swanson pays attention to the small moments within the game as well as the bigger picture, presenting David Ross with ideas about how the team could run cutoff plays and relays. Swanson sent a congratulatory text message to Matt Shaw on the night the Cubs selected the University of Maryland infielder with their first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Swanson described himself as an honorary assistant coach while he was recently sidelined with a bruised left heel. Ross joked that Swanson “tried to be manager and hitting coach and infield coach” during his time on the injured list: “He just can’t turn it off.”

Swanson’s drive and focus pushed Vanderbilt toward its first College World Series title, and later helped the Braves reemerge as a perennial playoff contender. 

“He understands the areas we need to improve. You’ll see it during games, trying to help out with others. He’s very open about talking to young guys, being there for young guys. Even when they get sent down (to the minors), he gives young guys his cellphone number and says, ‘Hey, if I can help in any way.’” 

“The good teams I’ve been on have really taken that seriously,” Swanson said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the first or the ninth inning, each game, each moment is obviously important. It should be looked at the same way. Whether it’s the first game or the 73rd game or the 90th game, each day our job is to go out and perform at a high level.” (Mooney - July 23, 2023 - The Athletic)

July 24, 2023: From 2020-2022 with the Braves, Swanson played in all but two games, 382 of a possible 384. 

So, you can understand what it was like for him during the two and a half weeks he spent on the injured list this month due to a left heel contusion. 

“I felt like I was going a little stir crazy,” Swanson said. 

But although he was unable to play, Swanson refocused his energy into contributing in other ways. 

“I felt like I was everybody’s honorable assistant,” Swanson said, “hitting coaches, pitching coaches, everybody. I felt like I was essentially an assistant coach for the last two weeks. It was driving me nuts.  

“I love playing. I love going out there every day and being able to compete with the guys on the team and do things you can to win. But during the couple of weeks, there’s obviously other things that can be done. Just trying to have a good attitude about it.” 

Said manager David Ross: “He just can't turn it off. It's been fun watching him interact around the dugout and in the clubhouse. We've had a lot of good conversations while he's been down.” 

Swanson, the All-Star shortstop who joined the Cubs on a seven-year deal last offseason, is a crucial piece to the team’s success on the field, from his presence in the lineup to Gold Glove defense at shortstop and overall baseball IQ. That value also extends to his leadership. Christopher Morel, who’s moved around the diamond for the Cubs the last two seasons, saw a lot of time at second base, with Nico Hoerner moving over to shortstop, when Swanson was sidelined. 

Swanson offered Morel feedback on his positioning, including moments to keep runners on second close to the bag. “He knows the game a lot,” Morel said of Swanson. “I know they go to him inside and outside the dugout.” 

Ross said he and Swanson have talked about cutoff and relay plays, with the shortstop giving feedback to help Cubs outfielders in those moments. 

“His makeup is off the charts,” Ross said. “That’s what we identified in the offseason, of just trying to get somebody that's wired the right way and thinks the right things and has been part of winning for a really long time.  

“It shows when you're around him consistently, just his willingness to impact others, lead, impart his wisdom and experiences on others. It’s just really valuable.”

Maybe, after his playing days are over, Swanson has a future in coaching. Ross, when asked specifically where he could see Swanson on a staff, pointed to third base coach, “because he sees a lot. He's very aware of the surroundings, how the game is moving, the impact.” 

Swanson’s wife, Mallory, a star soccer player for the Chicago Red Stars and U.S. Women’s National Team, can see coaching in his future, too. 

“My wife tells me I'm for sure coaching,” he said. “I don't know. That's so far down the line. I do enjoy helping other people. That's just my personality in general, and obviously if it's going to help us win, it's like two great things at once.” (T Stebbins - MLB.com - July 24, 2023)

When the idea was broached, Nico Hoerner never balked at the Cubs adding an established player at shortstop this past winter. When Swanson was signed, Hoerner happily shifted back to second base, where he’d been a finalist for a Gold Glove in 2020. Their manager, David Ross, has nothing but praise to lavish upon both players.

Ross points to Swanson as someone who has been a primary factor in ushering a culture change within a clubhouse that is as cohesive as it’s been in years as the Cubs return to a playoff hunt for the first time in quite a while. He has an even-keeled attitude that leads to an understated focus and an intensity that seems to fuel many in the clubhouse. By the metrics, no shortstop has a better Outs Above Average (OAA) than Swanson’s 14. Green said.

“Dansby is rhythmic, measured and really under control and tempered.” “He’s always choosing the hop he wants,” Hoerner continued, barely taking a breath as he listed off all the positive attributes of his double-play mate. “His confidence playing the game with one hand, the accuracy of his throws and even the sliding plays that look like highlights are really routine for him because he’s done it so often and knows how to use the ground to set up his throws. He’s just a joy to watch.” “Those are fun guys to coach and be around,” Green said. “Because they’re always looking for something to improve on. That’s a credit to both those guys.” (Sharma - Sep 17, 2023 - The Athletic)

 2023 Season: The captain and pseudo-assistant GM of the Cubs, Swanson wasn't immune to some bad luck throughout his first season in Chicago. His offensive numbers were merely fine with a .244/.328/.417 line and a 104 wRC+. His power dropped off from his past few seasons, though everything was right in line with his league average at the very least. Still, there were hints that Swanson had something more in his bat.

In fairness, Swanson did take some serious steps back in terms of barrel percentage, hard-hit rate, and average exit velocity, but his expected numbers were still improved from his actual results. The biggest jump can be seen in his .455 xSLG, a jump of nearly 40 points over his line. Moreover, it's almost certainly the case that his lower launch angle (13 degrees) curbed his power somewhat this year. There's reason to believe that a few tweaks, coupled with some better luck overall, will add a bit more thump to his bat.

Coupled with the improvements Swanson made this year to his strikeout (24.1%) and walk rates (10.3%), it's enough to believe he can be one of the key contributors in the Cubs lineup going forward. He's never going to be expected to carry the lineup or be the big bat that drives in a majority of the team's runs, but he can be counted on to be a consistent threat with enough power to hover around the 25-homer mark easily. (Ryan O'Rourke - Oct. 11, 2023)

Oct 19, 2023: Swanson is in Hoyer's ear about Cubs' offseason plans. 

This is going to be a critical offseason for the Cubs. The two-year rebuild is in the rear-view mirror, and this past season raised expectations on the North Side to the point that September’s fade felt excruciating for a fanbase craving October baseball again.

The task ahead for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins is to ensure that the positives outweigh the late-season negatives, and that 2023 can eventually be viewed as a true stepping-stone year. And they fully expect shortstop Dansby Swanson to be involved in the planning.

“Carter and I offered him an office,” Hoyer quipped at the end of the season. “I told him he had to wear khakis. He said that was a deal breaker.”

All jokes aside, Swanson does indeed intend on having his voice heard in the coming months as the Cubs plot their course for ‘24 and beyond. When the shortstop signed his seven-year, $177 million pact, he did so hoping to quickly help transform the North Siders back into annual postseason participants and World Series contenders. It is why he was vocal with Hoyer ahead of the Trade Deadline, doing what he could to convince the front office to push thoughts of a sell-off to the side.

Now, the Cubs have a chance to be aggressive in the winter ahead, building on a group that was one of baseball’s best teams in the season’s middle months. The final three weeks went in the opposite direction, leaving Chicago stranded on the playoff’s doorstep. A playoff berth will be expected in ‘24 for an organization with a solid foundation in the big leagues and one of baseball’s top farm systems.

“I'm sure we'll have some conversations,” Swanson said after the Cubs’ final game of the season. “If anybody knows me, I'm pretty open with my opinions when it comes to stuff like that. So I'm sure we'll have plenty of conversations over the next however long, about it all.

“We obviously know that we fell short this year, and that there's plenty of work to be done to get to where we want to get to. And I'm sure we all kind of have our own opinions on what that's going to take. And it's just a matter of all that stuff coming true. “So, yeah, I'm sure that this offseason will be filled with plenty of just honest conversations about what we can do better — whether that's players, philosophy, you name it.”

Wife of Cubs star lands Olympic gold with heroic goal for Team USA.

The Cubs have had little to celebrate on the baseball diamond this season, though they have played better in August. However, one of the Cubs' star players will soon have an Olympic gold medal on display in their Chicago home.

Dansby Swanson and Mallory Swanson have been one of the most high-profile couples in sports since their wedding in December 2022. He was a World Series champion in 2021, and she won the FIFA World Cup in 2019.

The one thing missing from the family's athletic resume was an Olympic gold medal. On Saturday, Mallory took that into her own hands. She scored the lone goal in the gold medal match of the Paris Olympics in the 57th minute against Brazil.

Team USA's 1-0 triumph secured the first women's soccer gold medal for the United States since 2012 in London. And Mallory Swanson, already one of the best players in the world, elevated herself to icon status in American soccer lore. (Jackson Roberts - Aug. 10, 2024) 

2024 Season: 149 G, .242/.312/.390, 16 HR, 66 RBI, 82 R

The Cubs’ shortstop certainly had a huge mid-season improvement in 2024. After posting just a 79 wRC+ in the first half of the season, Swanson hit for a scintillating 124 wRC+ after the midsummer classic. Part of that 124 second half wRC+ was buoyed by a .335 BABIP, but he did also drop his strikeout rate to 20.7 percent, which would be a career best for a full season. At the very least, he has given us all a much better taste in our mouths heading into 2025.  (Matt Ostrowski - Oct. 8, 2024)



TRANSACTIONS

June 2015: Swanson was the very first pick in the draft, by the Diamondbacks, out of Marietta High School in Georgia. He signed right on the deadline, July 17, and received $6.5 million, considerably under the $8.6 million slot.

December 8, 2015: The Braves sent RHP Shelby Miller and LHP Gabe Speier to the Diamondbacks; acquiring SS Dansby Swanson, OF Ender Inciarte, and RHP Aaron Blair.

Braves GM John Coppolella said about Swanson: “Our professional scouts and analytics department also liked him a lot and felt he could be an impact player at the Major League level. Perhaps most important was his makeup and just knowing what kind of player and person we were getting. He's a true winner in every sense of the word.”

Jan 10, 2020: Dansby and the Braves avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.1 million deal.

Feb 16, 2021: The Braves won their arbitration decision. Swanson will earn a $6 million salary in 2021 after he had filed for $6.7 million.

Nov 6, 2022: Dansby chose free agency.

Dec. 17, 2022: The Cubs signed Swanson for $177 million over seven years; and the deal includes a full no-trade clause. 

Swanson's deal will mark the second largest in terms of total value in Cubs history, trailing only the $184 million Jason Heyward made over an eight-year contract. Swanson, Heyward, and Alfonso Soriano (eight-year, $136 million) have the only deals in team history for seven or more years.

Swanson has a simple, fundamentally sound swing. He consistently makes good, hard contact, with consistency, but lacks power. He should reach double figures in homers, with lots of doubles from his line-drive stroke. So he should hit for a good batting average—a 60 hit tool, with average power, developing into a 50.

He is a prototypical #2 hitter.

Dansby has good bat speed, a quick, loose swing, athleticism and plays with energy. His hit tool plays up because he is such an intelligent hitter. He is patient at the plate, and is able to adjust to pitchers.

Swanson is a patient hitter who knows how to work a walk because of strike-zone awareness, and has a sound two-strike approach. He has some pop in his bat, especially when he can turn on the ball but gears his swing more for hard contact, hitting line drives.

Swanson drives most of his extra-base hits to his pull side and has average power. His plus speed will enhance his offensive value by helping him take extra bases, including the occasional steal. (Spring 2017)

Scouts and managers say he has the “winning gene” and is a player who already is seen as a leader with a top-step mentality.

“His intensity is through the roof,” one evaluator said in 2015, “especially for the No. 1 pick. He has a desire to be really good.”

Swanson has an advanced approach at the plate. "His strike zone adjustment is outstanding," said Jonathan Schuerholz, the Braves' assistant director of player development. "He doesn't change his approach. He believes in what he's doing and knows what he has to do to get to the Big Leagues." (May 2016)

At the plate, it would be unfair to expect too much from Swanson right out of the gate as he joins the Braves in August 2016.

There is little question he'll be a major offensive contributor long-term. He maintained an advanced approach at the plate in the 2016 season in the Minors, showing an ability to work counts, even when he wasn't swinging the bat as well with Mississippi.

That should serve him well as he makes the double-jump to the big leagues, as his on-base skills, combined with his speed, should allow him to help the Braves' offense, currently 11th in the National League in OBP. It might not happen right away, but he should hit for average and approach Major League average power in the future.  (Mayo - MLB.com - 8/16/2016)

Dansby's first big league home run was on September 6, 2016. But it was not what he'd envisioned.

It was an inside-the-park home run. Swanson became the first Braves player since Paul Runge in 1985 to record his first home run with an inside-the-parker. 

According to Statcast, it took Swanson 14.97 seconds to round the bases. That is the third-fastest trip from home plate to home plate recorded this season, but the fastest on a home run. Melvin Upton Jr. covered this distance in 14.85 seconds while scoring on a triple and an error. Brett Gardner was clocked at 14.89 seconds, but he was thrown out as he attempted to complete an inside-the-park home run.

"When you get going, it's all about the angles," Swanson said. "That is one of the biggest things in baseball, just being able to hit the base and get a good angle going from one to the other. I just thought it was going to be my first triple. Then, as it kept going, judging from the reaction in the dugout and the crowd, I thought maybe I'll be getting an inside-the-parker. So I just kept going and created that angle to go home."

Swanson has an impressive cerebral approach at the plate. Dansby exhibits a real feel for the game on both sides of the ball. He consistently makes hard contact. He works the pitcher deep into counts, piling up walks.

He likes to take the extra base when it is possible. 

The second-most improved hitter in baseball this season, among the 110 batters who had compiled 100 plate appearances in both 2018 and 2019, isn't Tim Anderson or Josh Bell or Yoan Moncada. It's Dansby Swanson. No non-Bellinger hitter has improved their underlying quality of contact metrics more.

In the 2015 draft, Swanson was picked No. 1 overall by the D-backs, just ahead of Alex Bregman (No. 2 to Houston) and Andrew Benintendi (No. 7 to Boston). Six months later, Swanson was traded, along with Ender Inciarte, in a deal for Shelby Miller. It was one of the most lopsided trades in recent in memory.

Swanson reached the Majors the following August, and made quite the impression, hitting a strong .302/.361/.442 (115 OPS+) in 38 games. But a full season in 2017 was a mess, as he put up a line of only .232/.312/.324 (68 OPS+) around a Minor League demotion, and '18 was only slightly better, at .238/.304/.395 (88 OPS+).

Those two years (2017-2018) combined weren't just disappointing, they were downright bad: of the 177 players who had 1,000 combined plate appearances in those years, only three hitters were weaker, and "Alcides Escobar, Billy Hamilton, and Chris Davis" is not a batting list anyone wants to be part of these days.

But this year, the 25-year-old is hitting .268/.333/.486 (115 OPS+). It's not that this is a world-beating line, though an above-average hitter capable of playing strong defense at shortstop is quite the valuable player. Even though it's a big step up, it's also tied for 92nd best among players with 100 plate appearances. It's that it's better, a lot better, than what he was. It's that the underlying performance shows real, true improvement.

Swanson is:

Striking out less: 20.4 percent, down from 22.9 percent

Walking more: 9.3 percent, up from 8.3 percent

Hitting harder: 46 percent, up from 34 percent

Hitting fewer grounders: 39 percent, down from 44 percent

More important, when he hits the ball in the air, he's hitting it harder. In 2017-2018, his hard-hit rate on balls in the air was just 40 percent. In 2019, it's up to 57 percent. It's where damage is found.

Those are all good things. But how do you combine them into one number?

The way we get to that is through Expected Weighted On-Base Average, which accounts for quality of contact as well as amount of contact, in an attempt to remove the effects of park and defense. (For example, when Swanson crushed a ball at 103.2 MPH and a 30-degree launch angle in the third inning, we give him credit for the fact that such a ball is a hit 80 percent of the time and a homer 74 percent of the time—not that Ketel Marte tracked it down for an out in the deepest part of Chase Field.)

In 2017, Swanson's expected wOBA was .297, or in the 10th percentile. In 2018, it was .278, or in the sixth percentile. (The Major League average in 2017-2018 was .320.) So far in 2019, Swanson is up to .373—better than Bryce Harper, Paul Goldschmidt, or Rhys Hoskins—and that jump of nearly 100 points puts him up at the top of the "most improved" list, right behind Bellinger.

Biggest improvements in Expected wOBA, 2018-2019, minimum 100 PA each season:

+.177—Cody Bellinger, LAD

+.095—Dansby Swanson, ATL (from .278 to .373)

+.088—Hunter Dozier, KC

+.087—George Springer, HOU

+.083—Josh Bell, PIT

Now, let's caveat two things. First, because Swanson had such a poor season in 2018, he had plenty of room to improve. It's not possible for someone like Mike Trout or Christian Yelich, for example, to make such improvements, because they were already outstanding. Second, we're not looking at jumps in actual production, where Swanson rates well yet behind several others, we're instead looking at changes in underlying skills.

Another way of looking at that is to note that in all of 2018, Swanson had 15 barrels, the Statcast term for a ball that is the perfect combination of high exit velocity and ideal launch angle. So far in 2019, in a fraction of the plate appearances: Swanson has 15 barrels. 

But why? What's allowing Swanson to succeed now in 2019, where he hadn't in the previous two years?

"Health" seems an obvious answer, given that Swanson dealt with an injured wrist for much of 2018—he missed the National League Division Series, don't forget—and underwent surgery in the offseason.

“I think the big thing is the kid is healthy, he doesn’t have that bothersome wrist he fought all of last year,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said to MLB.com's Mark Bowman. “That was good to see him go the other way there. I don’t know if he’s ever hit an opposite-field homer.”

Snitker was onto something. Swanson's 22 over-the-fence home runs (he also had an inside-the-parker) entering the season were all to center or left field. So far this year, he's already hit two to right or right-center, including this one off of Jon Lester on April 3: Maybe it's all related to the wrist, but there's more to it than that, too. Look at what Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said to the Arizona Republic after Swanson tripled to right-center off Zack Greinke:  "Last night was a perfect example of how new mechanics can make such a difference."

Seitzer didn't elaborate, but that shouldn't be hard to track down. As it turns out, it wasn't. The change is clear on video—see below—and Seitzer and Swanson told MLB.com exactly what they were working on.

"Over the past three weeks," wrote Ben Weinrib on September 2, 2018, "Swanson has worked with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer to widen his stance to improve his swing path."

"I think what it's really done is it keeps me more still," Swanson said. "It helps you see the ball earlier and longer and just helps you make adjustments a little better. When you have a lot of moving parts, it just simplifies it."

It's not at all hard to see the difference.  It's clear that not only is Swanson's stance much more open, but his hands are lower, too.

"It's something we've talked about, making some [adjustments] where he's more in his legs," Seitzer said to Weinrib last season. "Sometimes he gets a little far forward, and this keeps him in his legs to where he can stay against his front side. When he gets too far forward his swing gets too steep to where it has too much chop to his swing instead of staying on a plane and staying through the ball."

Whether or not the stance and the wrist are responsible, we're seeing some true improvement in his plate discipline, beyond just the walk and strikeout changes. No player in baseball has cut their chase rate—that is, the rate of swings on pitches outside the strike zone—as Swanson has, down from last year's 35.2 percent to 24.4 percent. That's important, as you'd expect; in his career, Swanson has a .138 average and a .167 slugging on balls outside the zone, and .288 with a .467 slugging inside the zone. Swinging at more strikes is just about the best thing a player can do.

Swanson is unlikely to ever hit like Yelich or Bellinger or some of baseball's true sluggers, because that's not his game. But it's also not what he needs to aspire to in order to be valuable, because simply being an above-average hitter while playing an above-average shortstop is valuable.

In the 21st century, 14 shortstops have done in a full season what Swanson is currently doing in 2019, which is to be a bat between 10 percent and 20 percent above league average and with positive defensive value. What that looks like is something like a four-to-five WAR season, with Jimmy Rollins' 2007 MVP campaign on the high end. (M Petriello - MLB.com - May 13, 2019)

Oct 9, 2020:  Swanson had an excellent 2020 NLDS, hitting .400 with two home runs, one triple and a 1.617 OPS. Swanson homered for Atlanta in each of the first two games of the series, including opening the scoring with a solo shot in Game 2. Swanson also went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs in the Braves’ clinching Game 3 win.

June 3, 2021: With Austin Riley on second in the bottom of the sixth, Swanson stepped into the box looking to capitalize with a runner in scoring position.  Swanson responded with a 440-foot home run over the left-field wall.  This gave Swanson 10 homers on the year and was his 500th career hit.

“He's always had it,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker.  “… You want him out there because of the defense that he brings, and when you do that and you just keep racking up at-bats, you end up learning to hit and you gain by that.”  (Bright - mlb.com)

August 14, 2021:  Dansby proudly lays claim to owning the Braves single-season home run record for shortstops.  He set the record when he hit his 21st homer in a 4-2 win over the Nationals on August 13th, at Nationals Park.  Swanson then increased his season total to 23 when he homered twice in a 12-2 win over the Nationals. The record had previously been held by Denis Menke, who hit 20 homers for the 1964 Milwaukee Braves.  (Editor's note: Dansby finished the season with 27 dingers.)

July 27, 2023: Swanson was finally feeling improvement with the pesky left heel issue that landed him on the injured list, and the Cubs shortstop had just about enough of watching games from the dugout. He decided it was time to put in a request with assistant hitting coach Johnny Washington.

“I went up to J-Wash during one of the games,” Swanson said, “I told him that I felt like I could push myself offensively, just in terms of in the cage with hitting off the machine.”

Swanson wanted to get back on the field as swiftly as possible for the Cubs, who are in the midst of a crucial stretch of games ahead of a Trade Deadline that will define the direction of the final two months. He was activated on Saturday after missing more than two weeks with the issue and has hit .438 (7-for-16) with a two-homer game in his first four games back for Chicago.

Rather than embarking on a Minor League rehab assignment, the shortstop wanted to up the volume and intensity of the hitting work behind the scenes. It was a way to expedite his return to the field once his heel was cooperative.

Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said one approach the hitting group took was to have Swanson get in a pile of swings using Driveline Baseball’s “smash factor balls.” The training balls are softer but can mimic the movement and speed of real baseballs, and the impact generates needed feedback minus the same physical toll. “They have a really good flight, just like a four-seam fastball,” Kelly explained. “And they have a little bit of variance in horizontal movement -- east and west. So, it's a really true spin of a pitch. And they can take a lot of swings at a high velocity.

“When he was actually ready to get back and we were able to ramp things up, I think it just kicked him into another gear. And challenging him was awesome.”

Swanson said the sessions also included ramping up the pitch speed higher than normal.

“It’s not going to be a feel-good session,” Swanson said with a smirk. “But, it’s important to do things faster than what you do in the game, so that the game, at best, can feel a little bit slower.” (J Bastian - MLB.com - July 2023)

Dansby is a quick-twitch athlete with the smooth actions and impressive footwork that make for a solid shortstop. He should stay at short into his Major League career. He gets a 60 grade for his defense on the scout scale.

"I love it at shortstop,” Swanson said. “I just feel at home.”

And advanced body control and supreme glove work allow him to excel there. He also has impressive instincts.

Swanson's arm is at least big league average (getting 55 or 60 grades) and has improved a bit. He gets rid of the ball quickly and his throws are accurate, so his arm plays up, with some scouts grading his arm at 60. He can throw accurately from many angles. (Spring 2017)

Swanson has soft hands, outstanding quickness, and exceptional lateral range at short. He has impressive anticipation with superb footwork on the double play.

As of the start of the 2016 season, his first full pro season, Dansby was rated the best defensive infielder in the D'Backs' organization.

In 2016, he led all minor league shortstops with an average of 3.3 assists per game.

Dansby has a high baseball intellect. He has an advanced feel for the game, making him able to anticipate plays.

“I think the kid can play shortstop, and he’s gonna be a shortstop for a long time to come,” Washington said. “I’m around this kid and I’ve seen his mind work. He doesn’t have the kind of talent where you say, ‘Ooh, man, look at that quickness,’ or, ‘Ooh, man, look at that arm.’ All he does is make the plays.”

GOLD GLOVER

In 2022, while with the Braves, Swanson won his first career Gold Glove Award, and the third Gold Glove for a shortstop in Braves history (Andrelton Simmons won the honor at the position in both 2013 and ’14). Swanson led all NL players with 21 Outs Above Average, an increase of 19 from his 2021 total.

Swanson is the second Cubs player to win a Fielding Bible Award at shortstop, joining Javier Báez (2020). 

Dansby is an above-average runner. He displays good instincts on the bases, on the field, and at the plate. He is a plus runner (60 on the 20-80 scale) and he knows how to steal bases.

2013: Swanson's freshman season was almost wiped out by a shoulder injury. And he also broke his foot.

July 24, 2015: Swanson was on the D.L. because of lingering concussion symptoms after he was hit in the face by a pitch.

May 4, 2018: Swanson was on the DL with left wrist inflammation.

May 4-19, 2018: Swanson was on the DL with left wrist inflammation.

September 26-end of 2018 season: Swanson will miss the remainder of the regular season with a torn ligament in his left hand, although the club has not ruled out the possibility that he will be available once the post-season begins.

Swanson received his diagnosis when he returned to Atlanta to be evaluated by Dr. Gary Lourie, the team's head physician. The 24-year-old Swanson's discomfort is between his ring finger and his left wrist. This is not the same area that bothered Swanson when he missed two weeks in May with left wrist inflammation.

November 5, 2018: Swanson hopes that issues with his left wrist were remedied by a surgical procedure performed by Braves head physician Dr. Gary Lourie. Lourie removed a loose body from Swanson's left wrist, which proved problematic in 2018 for the Braves shortstop. 

July 24-August 26, 2019: Swanson was on the IL with right foot contusion.

July 29, 2019: After Swanson participated in light baseball activities, Braves manager Brian Snitker said he expects the shortstop to return to the lineup when he is eligible to be activated from the injured list.

“If he’d have kept playing, I don’t know if [his heel injury] could have got better like it has,” Snitker said. “That’s why we wanted to get him off it. When he’s eligible to come off, he’ll be good to make a run at it the rest of the year.”

Swanson bruised his right heel when he landed awkwardly on the first-base bag while attempting to reach on a grounder during the game against the Royals.

August 13, 2019: Three weeks after suffering a right heel ailment that initially did not seem significant, Dansby Swanson remains relatively inactive and frustrated by the fact that there is no clear indication about when he might resume his role as the Braves’ shortstop.

“It’s a frustrating injury,” Swanson said. “It’s kind of impossible to avoid because you’ve got to walk. There’s times you put pressure on the foot all the time. I’m doing everything I can to get back and be ready. I have no update when that will be.”

July 5, 2023: Swanson exited a game with the Brewers with a left heel contusion, per the ballclub. 

"He's got his heel, where he hit the bag, a contusion," Cubs manager David Ross said after his team's 4-3 win. "We'll reevaluate him in the morning. He will not be in the lineup to start, but we'll have to see if he's available off the bench."

July 6-22, 2023: Dansby was on the IL with left heel contusion.

July 14, 2023: Swanson was forced to miss the All-Star Game, but he used the break to continue hitting and throwing, the Cubs said.