Seated at a table in the visitor’s clubhouse on the road last week, Dansby Swanson looked up and joked that you could tell he was a Vanderbilt guy because he was doing a crossword puzzle. When I mentioned Chipper Jones used to do one in the clubhouse every day, Swanson laughed as if to say “touché.”
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Jones was no “VandyBoy,” as members of that school’s rich baseball tradition are known. He was no college guy at all. And Swanson, if we’re being honest, does not seem likely to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer or league MVP, like Jones was.
But there are similarities between the two, beyond being No. 1 draft selections — Jones was the first pick in 1990, Swanson in 2015 — who helped Atlanta win a World Series title and played on the left side of the infield, where Jones manned third base for all but the two-plus seasons he played left field. Both are wildly popular among a large segment of the fan base, as evidenced by the sheer volume of Jones No. 10 and Swanson No. 7 jerseys in the stands at Truist Park.
Swanson, despite his career-high 27 home runs in 2021, isn’t in the same stratosphere with Jones as a hitter. The latter was inarguably one of the two or three greatest switch hitters in history. Jones averaged 30 homers and 101 RBIs in an 11-year period (1996-2007) while hitting .310 with a .407 OBP and .554 slugging percentage in that span. The man won a batting title at age 36 when he hit .364 in 2008.
Jones is widely regarded as the most accomplished Braves hitter other than the late, legendary Hank Aaron. Swanson is 28, a year older than Jones was when he won the National League MVP in 1999 after hitting .319 with career-bests of 45 homers and a 1.074 OPS. He’s an erratic hitter and a terrific defensive shortstop.
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.
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Beginning with that 2019 season, Swanson has hit .257 with 60 homers and a .766 OPS, averaging 34 doubles, 24 homers and 86 RBIs per 162 games and posting a 98 OPS+, meaning he’s just a tick below a league-average hitter (100 OPS+). But this season, his 111 OPS+ is well above average, and coupled with his stellar defense, it’s the kind of performance that should earn Swanson a large contract when he becomes a free agent after this season, if the Braves don’t re-sign him first.
Again, this is in no way to compare Swanson the hitter to Jones, because they are so different. If there are any players on the current team who could someday warrant a comparison to Jones — emphasis on could and someday — they would be power-hitting third baseman Austin Riley and dynamic star Ronald Acuña Jr. (Freddie Freeman would’ve been high on that list if he were still a Brave.)
Of course, Riley and Acuña — or perhaps Matt Olson — would need to do what they’ve already done for many more seasons to move into the Chipper Jones realm. That’s a subject for discussion down the road.
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.
Chipper Jones (middle) is among those who’ve helped Dansby Swanson develop into a better hitter. (Adam Hagy / Getty Images)“Winning culture” is a phrase mentioned frequently in pro sports, and suffice to say there is no one, with Freeman gone, more ingrained in the Braves’ culture than middle infielders Swanson and Ozzie Albies and pitcher Max Fried during the run of four consecutive division titles that followed a three-year rebuild. At times, Swanson can be a strikeout-plagued, below-average hitter. But when he’s going good, as he has been lately, he is one of the most impactful hitters in the lineup.
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After hitting just .172 with no home runs, four RBIs, a .526 OPS and 26 strikeouts in the first 17 games of the season, Swanson has hit .317 with six doubles, six homers, 22 RBIs, an .874 OPS and 36 strikeouts in the past 38 games. Since May 13, he’s hit .330 with four homers, 16 RBIs, eight walks, 20 strikeouts and an .891 OPS in 23 games, including 13 Braves wins.
As Swanson tells it, the drastic, rapid improvement was a result of recognizing he was late on starting his swing, that he was “loading” after the pitcher was already into his delivery rather than as soon as the pitcher separated his hands. Someone Swanson trusts a great deal on such matters brought it to his attention, and the shortstop said he could look at still photos and immediately see the difference.
“The biggest change for me over the last five weeks or so is I’ve just put a ton of emphasis on my timing,” he said. “And people might read that and be like, ‘Yeah, duh.’ But sometimes it’s so easy to get lost in the other things that you forget about the most important thing, and that’s being on time. Some of the best people I’ve worked with when it comes to hitting have always said that human nature, as a hitter, makes you start on time to a little late. And so you have to be very conscious of working on being on time to a little bit early. So I’ve just put literally all my stock into being on time, in terms of when I get going with the pitcher.
“That is instant feedback that I can look at in game, on the iPads, without having to break down my swing. I just look at, am I going on time? And if I’m not, then it’s easy enough (to correct).”
There was also one physical change in his stance that longtime Swanson observers might have noticed.
“Early in the year, I had the bat off my shoulder,” said Swanson, who thought getting the bat off his shoulder and having some movement prior to the pitch might help his rhythm. “But I’ve tried that a couple times, and it never really works for me. So I just got back to having it on my shoulder, and it just really relaxes me. I just found a way to get loaded from the bat sitting on my shoulder.
“There’s plenty of people that do it. (Bryce) Harper does it pretty consistently, just kind of has the bat on his shoulder and then he gets loaded. There’s a couple guys — like, even (Trevor) Story does it. And so I just really started to own that part of my swing, having the bat start on my shoulder.”
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Which brings us back to Jones and Swanson, and their similarities, even if hitting between the ultra-consistent Jones and not-so-much Swanson isn’t one. Rather, it’s things like being instinctive players and excellent base runners, the latter something Jones rarely got credit for because he rarely stole bases. Ask anyone Jones played with or against how smooth and smart he was on the basepaths and what a proficient base runner he was for much of his career, before age and injuries sapped his speed.
Same for 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.
Most praise for Swanson’s base running has been for his efficient routes and sometimes daring and usually successful decisions to take an extra base or run through a stop sign, as he did in a May 27 win against the Marlins. In that game, Swanson scored from first base on Albies’ bloop to shallow left field, running through coach Ron Washington’s stop sign at third base when Swanson noticed left fielder Jorge Soler ease up for a moment and look to second base, assuming Swanson would stop.
“That’s just an instinctual play, a heads-up baseball play,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
“The competitive nature — he wants to win more than anybody I know,” Riley 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.”
Neither Jones nor Swanson has a Gold Glove, but many believe Jones should’ve won at least one over David Wright in 2007 or 2008. Swanson plays a position loaded with talented players, but he could win a Gold Glove before long if he continues to improve and reduces errors on routine plays, which he’s done this season while playing elite defense reflected in a 6.4 defensive runs above average. Houston’s Jeremy Pena (8.1) is the only MLB shortstop with a higher DEF than Swanson.
Swanson and two other players are tied for fifth in the majors in Statcast’s outs above average (OAA) this season, with six, and the only shortstop with more before Monday was Houston’s Jeremy Peña, with eight. That means Swanson was among the top 2.6 percent among 260 position players with enough innings to qualify. Among shortstops, Swanson was second in runs prevented with five, one run behind Peña.
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“He’s just playing about as good a shortstop as you can play,” Snitker said. “And the kid’s got an ability to make adjustments offensively. He’s a very tough mental kid. He’s got a great mental makeup and a toughness. He’s just a really, really solid player.”
Anecdotally, most Braves watchers can recall a recent play or two when Swanson shows unusual awareness, like throwing out a runner trying to advance to third on grounder up the middle last week rather than taking the easy out at first base. Or the bases-loaded play he made near second base on a sharp Ryan McMahon grounder to end the third inning Saturday at Colorado, saving at least one run in a game the Braves won in 11 innings.
“He’s just knowledgeable about the game. I guess wise would be the word,” Riley said. “And always thinking. Especially when we’re playing, I look over to him a lot. We’ve kind of got like a little language going. I’ll be like, ‘What do you think? Bunt?’ Stuff like that. I’m constantly asking him all kinds of questions.”
During games, Riley knows he can check with Swanson whenever the third baseman has any questions about where he should be positioned or what to expect on the next pitch from a particular hitter.
“Oh, yeah. Because he’s been around, he’s seen guys,” Riley said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, should I play back a little bit? Should I play forward? Expect the bunt?’ Stuff like that. Like I say, he’s the shortstop and he’s the captain of the infield. And I think he fits that role pretty good.”
Swanson, who was Most Outstanding Player at the 2014 College World Series when Vanderbilt won its first national title, had two home runs in the Braves’ World Series win last fall, including part of huge back-to-back long balls in the seventh inning of Game 4 — Swanson and Soler hit game-tying and go-ahead homers — and a two-run homer in the fifth inning of the clinching win in Game 6.
Swanson has done a lot of winning in his amateur and professional careers, and he is ready and willing to share and help teammates — or future teammates, as Braves shortstop prospect Braden Shewmake can attest after two spring trainings.
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“Dansby is the best — he’s super good about teaching points,” said Shewmake, a Braves first-round draft pick in 2019. “And if he sees something, he’s not afraid to tell you. He’s one of the guys I’ve worked with the most. He could come up to me in (Grapefruit League) games and sit down on the bench and say, ‘This is what I was thinking,’ and get my feedback about what I did. He’s an awesome guy, lot of fun to be around. He’s one of the guys that makes baseball fun.”
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,” Snitker said. “He’s a winning kid.”
When he’s surging at the plate, Swanson is indeed a “Derek Jeter-type hitter” Jones believed he could be. But when he’s not … well, we’ll let Swanson explain, which might at the same time demonstrate how he sees some things in different terms than typically expressed by players.
“I’ve learned that the more that I can put the stock and emphasis on being, you know, who God made me to be every day, like being that person — that is what I’ve really put all my energy into basically,” Swanson said. “Because I know that that’s gonna lead to good things. And like I said, that’s why I put my stock in it when it comes to everyday preparation.
“Because I’m not silly, and I’m not stupid, either. And I know that, throughout my career, I’ve really been a guy full of ups and downs — like, when it’s good, it’s great. And when it’s bad, it’s pretty bad, offensively. And I feel like that that was just something that I knew I had to kind of lock in in terms of if I wanted to be successful.”
He paused before adding, “It’s funny because it’s like putting more emphasis on, not like trying to be consistent (in the batter’s box), but just being a consistent man every day has led to more consistency.”
(Top photo: Ethan Mito / Clarkson Creative / Getty Images)
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