In fact, he has almost doubled his home run output from the 14 homers he hit as recently as 2018. Once he graduated to the parent Braves, Swanson began to show more and more pop in his bat. But the home runs were few and far between.Īs he has developed and matured, it is Swanson’s outstanding eye-hand coordination and his pitch recognition abilities that have improved the most for this scout. As a minor league player in development, he could hit the gaps for doubles, using good speed and solid base running to his advantage. In his earliest days, Swanson did not flash much power. Making good contact and using good bat control, Swanson showed he could use the entire field and take a pitch where it was thrown. He knew how to take a pitcher deeply into counts and get a good share of walks. While not setting the world on fire, Swanson’s offense did show promise as well.Īt the plate, Swanson showed good patience and a maturity beyond his age. Watching Swanson play as young minor leaguer as a rookie for the Braves, this scout found Swanson to be a superb defensive shortstop, with excellent hands, very good range, and a strong and reliable arm. Originally a second baseman, Swanson converted to shortstop and helped his Vanderbilt team get to the 2015 College World Series, where he won the game’s Most Outstanding Player Award. Scouting Dansby Swanson:Ī good athlete, Swanson played basketball and baseball at Marietta High School in suburban Georgia. He went hitless in three plate appearances in the game. Swanson played shortstop on the USA team that took on a World team. This writer’s first chance to see Swanson play was in the 2016 All Star Future’s Game at Petco Park in San Diego. Swanson made his first All Star Team this past season. He drove in 88 runs in 2021 and 96 runs this past season. 255/.321/.417/.738 with 102 home runs, 433 runs scored, and 411 RBIs in 3,387 plate appearances for the Braves.įor the past two years, Swanson has hit 27 and 25 homers, respectively. Swanson enters free agency after compiling a career record hitting. Swanson has played parts of seven seasons as a steady, and ever-improving shortstop for the Braves. Swanson will turn 29 in February, which makes him rather young to have reached free agency.Īt 6-1, 190 pounds, the right-handed hitting Swanson has a strong and solid frame. In parts of four big league seasons, Speier has thrown only 40 major league innings. Speier, a prospect at the time he was traded to Arizona, is now in the Kansas City organization, where he has pitched at the big league level since 2019. Miller is on his fourth team since leaving the Diamondbacks in 2019, He had a record of 5-18 with a 6.35 Earned Run Average in 29 Diamondbacks appearances, including 28 starts. Saying Miller had a rough time in parts of three seasons in Arizona would be a vast understatement. The trade is widely considered to be among the more lopsided deals in baseball. His family and his friends from Vanderbilt could watch him play. He would get to play for the team he rooted for as a young fan. Swanson would be returning to a familiar environment. In that stunning trade, the Diamondbacks also sent pitcher Aaron Blair and outfielder Ender Inciarte to the Braves for pitchers Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier. Just six months earlier, they chose Swanson as the best player available in the draft. On December 9, 2015, in an unexpected, surprising, and shocking transaction, the Diamondbacks traded Swanson to the Atlanta Braves. 289 with 1 homer and 11 RBIs in 99 plate appearances.īut Swanson played only 22 games in a uniform of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. In 2015, at the age of 21, Swanson began his professional career playing shortstop for Arizona’s Short-Season Class A Hillsboro, Oregon team.
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