Dansby Swanson DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double during their victory over the Athletics on Monday evening. Swanson went deep for the second-straight game in the opening frame off Athletics right-hander Joey Estes. Later in the sixth inning, Swanson hit his second double of the season, scoring Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki. Through his first seven games of the season, Swanson has posted a solid .259/.333/.556 slash line with four extra-base hits and five RBI. This is a nice start for Swanson as he held an underwhelming .242/.312/.390 line with just 16 round-trippers during the 2024 campaign. Fantasy managers should continue to view Swanson as a solid low-end No. 1 shortstop in all formats. He will face right-handed pitcher Luis Severino on Tuesday evening.

According to Josh Frydman of WGN News, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (core) feels healthy and is expected to be ready for spring training. Swanson underwent surgery for a core injury over the offseason. Swanson noted that it is "Nice to feel like yourself. Feels like a re-set" when asked how he felt. Swanson appeared in 149 games with the Cubs last season and held a .242/.312/.390 and hit 16 home runs, and swiped 19 bags. Under the hood, he generated a .321 xwOBA, .416 xSLG, and a 42.7% hard-hit rate, all of which were slightly above the average marks. During his first season with the Cubs in 2023, Swanson went deep 22 times with a .244 AVG. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status leading up to Opening Day. If healthy, he should be penciled in as the starting shortstop on the Northside all season.

The Chicago Cubs announced on Saturday that shortstop Dansby Swanson (core) had successful surgery on his core in early October with Dr. Bill Meyer. Swanson isn't expected to miss any time as the result of his offseason surgery and should be ready to go for the start of spring training in mid-February. The 30-year-old wasn't quite as good in his second year in Chicago as he was the previous two seasons when he was an All-Star, as he slashed .242/.312/.390 with a .701 OPS, 16 home runs, 66 RBI, a career-high 19 stolen bases and 82 runs scored in 593 trips to the plate and 149 games. If not for a late-season surge, Swanson would have had a terrible 2024, as he hit just .219/.291/.346 with nine homers in his first 99 games. Despite his resurgence from a poor start, Swanson's career-high 49.9% ground-ball rate doesn't pound to a rebound in the power department going forward.