Atlanta Braves to Call Up Dansby Swanson

Atlanta Braves to Call Up Dansby Swanson

According to the Atlanta Braves Twitter account the Braves will call up Dansby Swanson for tomorrow’s game.

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the year you’ll know that the Braves acquired Swanson from the Diamondbacks in the Shelby Miller trade.

Swanson was Arizona’s first round pick in 2015 and the first such draft pick to be traded the same year he was selected.  He started the year in Carolina and 21 games later moved to Pearl and immediately stamped his presence on the team taking charge of the infield and hitting his first AA homer in the eighth inning.

In 377 PA over games he put together  a .261/.342/.402/.745 line that included 13 doubles, five triples and eight home runs two of them inside the park homers. If advanced metrics interest you Swanson’s excelled there as well posting a .345 wOBA and 116 wRC+.

Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 45 | Run: 60 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 65

Swanson was ranked the # 17 prospect in baseball entering this season by Baseball America,  #27 by Baseball Prospectus and #8 according to MLBPipeline  who also ranked him as the Braves #1 prospect.

Swanson is a winning player who captained Vanderbilt to the College World Series championship in 2014 and led them back to the finals in 2015. From a tools point of view he has soft, quick hands and a strong arm on defense and has a mature, advanced approach at the plate and as he settles in he could have Major League average power.

The Braves have said all along they wouldn’t bring a player up before he was ready. Early in the year fans were clamoring for Swanson but the team was playing badly the front office stuck to their guns and left him in Mississippi.

After the All Star break the Braves sent Ozzie Albies down to Pearl to get used to playing alongside Swanson. They quickly became close friends and made the middle infield of the M-Braves very tight,  Now the Braves are playing well and they’ve made the call.

Hart also said that Swanson will be in the lineup tomorrow night.

That’s A Wrap

So the fans get a look at the number one prospect they’ve been hearing about sooner than expected. All of this begs the question is Albies close behind him? No according to David O’Brien.

This opening became available because the Braves traded Erick Aybar to Detroit and were without an everyday shortstop, a trade no one believed could happen

Next: Bye Bye Aybar

With Julio Teheran returning followed closely by Tyler Flowers and Arodys Vizcaino the Braves should have an infusion of energy as we head towards the finish line,

From a business point of view this is bound to put butts in the seats this weekend and my butt will be one of them (fortunately I already have tickets.)   This will energize the fans and the Ted should be rocking for the Nationals series and perhaps we can disrupt their trip to the post season a bit.