Every new year in baseball there is always a handful of players who take the next step. Dansby Swanson qualifies that statement in 2019. Swanson isn’t just one of the breakout stars of 2019, he might be baseball’s most improved player. Swanson was drafted ahead of established stars Andrew Benintendi and Alex Bregman. While Swanson may never hit quite like those guys, he’s starting to live up to his own potential.
The case of Dansby Swanson is a weird trajectory to explain. The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Swanson with the first overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt. Months later, Arizona gave up on him to acquire Shelby Miller. Swanson was shipped to Atlanta along with Aaron Blair and Ender Inciarte. The trade predictably backfired on Arizona and led to that idiot Dave Stewart’s eventual firing.
While the Miller deal turned into a disaster for Arizona, for a moment, the Diamondbacks looked right about Dansby Swanson. This was a player the D-Backs drafted first overall and traded months later in the following offseason? Seems like a weird thing to do? Well, the reasoning behind that was they didn’t believe Swanson was going to ever hit on an adequate level.
Swanson initially burst onto the scene but really struggled with his bat in the early stages of his career once reaching the majors with Atlanta. Swanson found success in 38 games as a rookie but fell back down to earth after. Swanson was even demoted for a short time.
- 302/.361/.442 (115 OPS+) in 38 games. (2016)
- .232/.312/.324 (68 OPS+) (2017)
- .238/.304/.395 (88 OPS+). (2018)
The good news is Swanson could always field. His glove was going to keep him in the big leagues. Swanson is a positive fielder in every sense of the word. The difference in 2019 is Swanson has become a much better hitter. It all starts with the approach at the plate. He has a totally different stance at the dish.
You will notice his stance his more open, knees are more bent in a position to attack, and hands are lower. The latter two are the most important. Every great athlete also is a great knee bender. That’s where all the explosion comes from. Instead of chopping balls into the dirt, Swanson can lift the ball with a lower stance. Swanson has lowered his ground ball percentage from 44 percent to 39 percent. That’s less ground ball outs. He’s also hitting the ball harder. The Braves shortstop hard hit ball percentage has jumped from 34 percent up to 46 percent.
Swanson’s hand positioning is also important. This is something Mookie Betts is great at who I probably watch the most. Cutting down on wasted movements is vital for success. In 2018 in that picture you can see above, Swanson had to first drop his hands and then react. Now, his hands are already in position to attack. That extra half second makes a huge difference when you’re facing pitchers who routinely throw 99 on an everyday basis.
Swanson’s strikeout numbers
Biggest improvements in Expected wOBA, 2018-19, Min. 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
Swanson, 25, has turned himself into a shortstop that you can expect to hit in the .270’s with 25 home runs while playing a gold glove caliber type of defense. That’s a big improvement from the guy who couldn’t hit a lick. Swanson’s continued development is just another win in a long line of wins to come for the Braves. No team has more young talent than Atlanta does.
