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Atlanta Braves: Is it time to panic about Dansby Swanson?

By Jake Mastroianni

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 11: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves loses his helmet as he swings at a pitch and strikes out against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on September 11, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 11: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves loses his helmet as he swings at a pitch and strikes out against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on September 11, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Since coming back from injury we have not seen the same Dansby Swanson. Should the Atlanta Braves be concerned?

It’s really sad to see the struggles of Dansby Swanson since coming back from the injured list with the Atlanta Braves.

We all know how important this season was for Dansby in terms of his future with this team. After a couple of disappointing seasons, he needed to have a big year to prove he’s the Braves shortstop of the future.

He was having that type of year before injuring his heel as he was hitting .265 with 17 home runs.

After missing a month of action, he has just 7 hits in 49 at-bats (.143) and he’s yet to hit a home run since returning.

He has certainly run into some bad luck — as he has all year — but he’s had some terrible at-bats as well.

What’s most concerning for me is that his at-bats look more like his 2018 at-bats when it seems like he walks to the plate with an 0-2 count. And with that, his strikeout percentage is up to 33.3 percent since coming back compared to 20.4 percent before the injury.

If you look at his hard-hit percentage on FanGraphs, he’s still hitting the ball really hard with a hard-hit percentage of 43.3, and he has a BABIP of .233 since returning.

So he has definitely run into some bad luck since coming back — and again, he’s had some terrible luck all year on the balls he’s put in play.

On the season he has a BABIP of .292 and a hard-hit percentage of 42.6.

That hard-hit percentage is by far the best of his career with 2018 being his next highest total at 35.6.

Also according to FanGraphs, he’s hitting a lot more line drives since coming back, but he’s also pulling the ball a lot more.

When you look at those numbers, it kind of lessens my concerns. He’s certainly run into even more bad luck since coming back that will even itself out.

And when he is making contact he’s making solid contact.

I love that Brian Snitker has put him back in the eight spot in the lineup because that will force him to lay off those breaking balls, which he’s been flailing at since coming back.

Once he starts laying off those pitches and gets himself in fastball counts, I think we’ll see Dansby take off again.

And for those wondering, there is no chance of Adeiny Hechavarría replacing Swanson at some point this year.

Even though Hech has been great since coming to the Atlanta Braves, historically he’s never been a great offensive player and even though he’s great defensively, so is Dansby.

There is also a chance that Dansby has been pressing since returning to the lineup trying to make up for lost time.

Next. Pitching to pitchers. dark

I think he will settle down these last couple of weeks and get back on track for the postseason where I think Dansby will thrive.

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