Dansby Swanson knows his offensive production this season has not been at the level the Chicago Cubs need: “Production would be a very kind word.”
The Cubs’ Dansby Swanson wipes his face as he stands at second base during a game against the Orioles on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Baltimore. ST. LOUIS — Dansby Swanson knows his offensive production this season has not been at the level he expects or what the Chicago Cubs need.“Production would be a very kind word for you to use,” he said.
Through 83 games, Swanson owns a .209 average, .282 on-base percentage and .634 OPS. His 81 weighted runs created plus is 11th-worst among 139 qualified hitters this year. Bad luck on balls in the air driven to the big part of the field hasn’t helped Swanson; however, some underlying issues go beyond that. His ground-ball rate is a career-high 50.7%, nearly a 7% increase from last year, while he’s pulling the ball at the highest clip of his career .
Hitting coach Dustin Kelly attributes a slight spike in overall exit velocity to Swanson’s ground-ball rate. In an effort to create more line drives and elevate the ball more consistently, Swanson has been working with Cubs hitting coaches on where he is during his swing when his front foot hits the ground.
Those struggles against four-seamers can be partially traced to how teams are attacking Swanson. Pitchers have been overwhelmingly slider-heavy. Among the 254 major-league hitters who have seen at least 750 pitches this year, Swanson is tied for ninth in most sliders faced, accounting for 22.3% of the pitches he has seen. They’re getting him to chase those sliders, too, with a 28.3% strikeout rate, .167 average and .185 slugging percentage.2024 MLB draft: White Sox pick at No. 5 and Cubs at No.
Even for a veteran in his ninth big-league season, the mental part of a prolonged slump has been the hardest part.
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