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Tomahawk Take Awards: Dansby Swanson Wins Braves MVP Honors

By Trent Dickeson

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a two run home run during the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Truist Park on October 1, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a two run home run during the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Truist Park on October 1, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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While we wait for the offseason to unfold, the staff over at Tomahawk Take has put together a list of awards from the Atlanta Braves 2022 season. We voted on:

  • Braves MVP
  • Braves CY Young
  • X Factor
  • Surprise of the Year
  • Biggest Disappointment
  • Best Moment
  • Best Win

We will start with the Atlanta Braves MVP award, i.e. who brought the most value, in our eyes/minds, to the Atlanta Braves in 2022. We were allowed (encouraged) to think outside the box with some of our votes. If we wanted to go purely on statistical performance, we could. If we wanted to vote based on intangibles, we could.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to give us your votes in the comments.

The Votes

Totals:

  1. Dansby Swanson– 6
  2. Michael Harris II– 4

Dansby Swanson narrowly edges out Michael Harris for the Tomahawk Take writers’ MVP award for the Atlanta Braves!

The Braves Sheriff- Dansby Swanson

No surprise that Dansby Swanson wins the MVP from our contributors. He easily led the team with 6.4 fWAR. He hit .277/.329/.447 with 25 HR, 99 R, 96 RBI, 18 SB with a .337 wOBA & 116 wRC+. Swanson got off to an abysmal start to the 2022 season but rebounded well to be a consistent performer at the plate.

Defensively, Swanson has always been solid. He took his defense to the next level in 2022. He totaled 9 DRS, 16 runs prevented, and 21 OAA. The 21 OAA led all shortstops and was second to Jonathan Schoop’s 27 OAA.

Dansby was the leader of the infield and stepped up several times in key moments for the Braves in 2022. A team that needed leadership at times, got it from their shortstop. It was the perfect time for Swanson to put together a career year heading to free agency. It was also exactly what the Braves needed in 2022. It is easy to see why he led the way in our MVP voting.

Michael Harris Emerges

The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year, Michael Harris, finishes second in our MVP voting. It is easy to see why Harris received so much love. From the moment he arrived in Atlanta, he became a fan favorite and was a spark plug for the entire team.

Harris hit .297/.339/.514 19 HR, 75, 64 RBI, 20 SB with a .367 wOBA and 136 wRC+. Defensively, he established himself as the Braves center fielder of the future. He totaled 8 DRS, 6 runs prevented, and 7 OAA. Overall, Harris was worth 4.8 fWAR in only 114 games. At that pace, he would have pushed Swanson for overall WAR leader if he was around the entire season.

It was still enough to earn 40% of our vote for MVP. Personally, I voted for him because I believe he changed the makeup of the Braves. Yes, he played extremely well on both sides of the ball, but he made the rest of the team better. By establishing himself in center field, the Braves were able to move Adam Duvall back to left field where he started hitting slightly better before the injury. It also lengthened the lineup by taking one of the several underperforming hitters out of the daily lineup.

Michael Harris saved the Braves in my opinion. It was a somewhat surprising move to see him just from AA to the majors, but it proved to be the perfect decision. In my opinion, without the promotion of Harris, the Braves have no shot to chase down the Mets. No offense to Swanson, who put together a phenomenal year, but I just had to go with Harris as my MVP.

Final Thoughts

Congratulations to Dansby Swanson for earning the Tomahawk Take MVP award for the Atlanta Braves 2022 season. Maybe he can use that in his negotiations this winter!

The future is also bright with how well Michael Harris played that he can be considered one of the Braves better players in his rookie season. I was somewhat surprised that Austin Riley did not receive a vote, but the competition was tough. Hopefully, when we do this a year from now, we will have multiple players receiving MVP votes.

Up next, our Cy Young!

Next. A look at Fred McGriff's Hall of Fame case. dark

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