Dansby Swanson Has Mastered the Art of Making Up for Terrible Hitting With Elite Defense

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Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images

There’s been a lot of consternation about Dansby Swanson this year, and rightfully so. He has been really bad at the plate, after all.

Heading into their late-June series against the New York Mets, his wRC+, which is an all-encompassing offensive statistic where 100 is average, sits at just 77, according to FanGraphs. Not only does this mean that he is 23 percent worse than the league-average hitter, but this ranks him as the 16th-worst qualified hitter in baseball. Like I said, he's been really bad at the plate.

The thing with Swanson is that offense has never been his calling card. Even at his absolute best, the Chicago Cubs’ shortstop has never been any more more than a slightly above-average hitter. His ability to play exceptional defense at a premium position like shortstop is what has made him one of the most valuable players in baseball throughout the course of the 2020s. 

Until last year, that is. Per Baseball Savant, Swanson was worth two runs above average in the field last season. That was his worst defensive season since 2019.

What was different? Swanson went from being elite to merely good at coming in on the ball, while also falling from above average to below average at moving laterally:

Year	Coming In (OAA)	Lateral toward 3B (OAA)	Lateral toward 1B (OAA)	Going Back (OAA)
2024	14	2	2	-1
2025	9	-1	-2	-1

The values in the table represent the outs above average on each respective play type. At his defensive peak from 2022 to 2023, Swanson was not only elite at coming in on the ball, but also at moving towards third base: he was worth 12 outs above average moving towards third in 2022, and eight in 2023. 

This declined significantly in 2024, and all but disappeared in 2025. This year, though, he has been worth four outs above average moving toward third base and we’re only halfway through the season.

To put this in simpler terms: he is making more plays in the hole between him and third base than he was last year:

The former Atlanta Brave has also been worth 0 outs above average on plays towards first base, an improvement over his below-average output in 2025. He’s also maintained a steady performance coming in on the ball, worth five outs above average in that regard.

Cobble all of that together and Swanson has been worth seven runs above average and nine outs above average in the field so far this year, both of which are seventh in baseball. This is after being worth two runs above average and four outs above average just last season. 

Despite being one of the worst qualified hitters in baseball, he has still posted 1.5 fWAR, fifth among the Cubs’ position players and more than Alex Bregman, Nico Hoerner, and Carson Kelly. He is on pace for 3.2 fWAR after posting 3.3 last season. 

Is this all a glass half full view of Dansby Swanson? Of course it is! But we all need that right now while we stress about the bat. He might never be more than a shell of his former self at the plate again. However, at the age of 32, he might also be as good as ever in the field. This alone will continue to make him a plug-and-play option for Craig Counsell moving forward.

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