Atlanta Braves Rookie Dansby Swanson Needed That Walk-off
By Josh Brown
Baseball players are big kids. Just like us. They go on streaks, and they get into slumps. And moments of excitement and comradery do a lot for guy who’s going through a difficult time. Especially if that guy has a ton of talent, like Dansby Swanson.
There comes a time in a player’s career, if they’re good enough to make it to the big leagues, when the scouting report on that player circulates around the league shortly after arrival. This isn’t just an Atlanta Braves thing – it’s universal.
When this happens to said rookies, it’s then up to them to make adjustments. And then, throughout the remainder of their career, there will be adjustments made towards their adjustments and the song a dance continues.
Right now the book is out on Dansby Swanson and it’s up to him to adjust. Perhaps no one is more capable of such an undertaking as Dansby Swanson.
Even though Swanson is currently batting .151, it’s certainly no time to panic. It’s mid-April and guys like Joey Bats, Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story, Eric Hosmer and Dexter Fowler are all batting under the Mendoza Line. Heck, Miguel Cabrera is barely hitting .220 right now.
Going into late April in his rookie year, the book says that Dansby cannot hit sliders. Our own Stephen Tolbert went into detail about this last week and I talked about it on the Knockahoma Nation podcast.
Out of players with at least 120 plate appearances last year, Dansby Swanson saw the most sliders in MLB at 25.9%. And out of those 170 sliders only two were hits; 33 were called strikes and 47 were swinging strikes.
This season, although it is still extremely early, the story has continued. In 2017 Dansby Swanson has seen the third most sliders in MLB at 28.9%. If Dansby Swason can figure out the slider; when to hit it and when to lay off it, he’s going to have a wonderful rookie year.
When Dansby Swanson got the walk-off hit Monday night it was a wonderful sign for Braves fans. It assured fans, after a couple of weeks of questioning his abilities at the plate, that Dansby Swanson is going to be just fine. Furthermore, it wasn’t the fact that he merely hit a walk-off to win the game. It was how he did it.
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If you were paying attention during that last at-bat Monday night, you saw Dansby choke up on the bat after 2 strikes. This should tell you two things – Dansby is a smart educated rookie, and Dansby has no ego on the field. Dansby Swanson’s walk-off helped his own confidence and the confidence his teammates have in him. He needed it, and here’s to many more.