One Dans

 

I think in the MLB there's a luxury of just being the best all the time. Like, guys like Jose Ramirez and Max Scherzer and Aaron Judge, they're just consistently really damn good, and even if they do have slumps or injuries you still have that reassurance that they will swing back up relatively soon. But there's also just people who *can* be extremely good, but not as consistently as the greats. Guys who can have solid month stretches where they're leading the team that can come after periods of time where they're a liability. There's honestly a bunch of guys right now who fit this description. Carlos Correa, Marcus Semien, Anthony Santander, arguably Blake Snell. 

And Dansby Swanson might be the most curious one of all. #1 draft pick, traded for a guy who immediately fell off, won a World Series as a starter, signed a big deal with Chicago. His highs have led these teams to greatness, and his lows...have pissed them off.

It is too damn often that I will look at Dansby Swanson's stats and see that he's hitting .189 or something, then check baseball reference again a week and a half later and see he's leading the team in WAR. The man runs hot and cold like nobody else, and he's been doing this for years. The Braves in like 2021, in his age-27 season, were essentially standing there going 'WHEN IS SOMETHING GOING TO HAPPEN?' Now, mind you, this was the season where all four infield spots produced 25 or more homers, and this was also in Dansby's three-year stretch where he didn't miss any games, and this was also the year where Swanson hit 2 home runs in the World Series against the Astros. So things did happen, but instead of being a perennial 7 WAR guy like Freeman or Acuna, Swanson is a 3 WAR guy who will give you some big months. Which is better than nothing.

I checked Swanson's career splits, and I found something I kind of expected. His career average in April is .230. It just takes him a month or so to really get going a lot of the time. And a lot like Kyle Schwarber, he's electric in June; he's cumulatively hit .271 in June, with 31 homers across his career in that month. Some guys just hit their strides at different points, and Swanson is one of them. Which is fine if you have enough guys who are on more consistently, which the Cubs certainly do.

Swanson, at the moment, is hitting .262 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs. Is he the most important hitter on this team? No, because Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Nico Hoerner are here. But he's still very good, and capable of big games and moments, and when the Cubs have a team like this one, that's so varied and multifaceted, they can take some inconsistency with Swanson [and Seiya Suzuki honestly] if it still rewards them inherently.

The Cubs look great, and they're staying relatively hot, though the Cardinals are approaching quickly from behind. We'll see how things look as we head into June.

Coming Tonight: The Mariners had Logan Gilbert surging, then he got hurt. They just got George Kirby back. Luis Castillo has been great but has given them some subpar starts. The rock of their rotation has persisted, and it wasn't at all who I expected.