The .040 Batting Average That Tells You Everything About Dansby Swanson's Season

Yo, did you catch that M's game last night? Another W, baby! Our Mariners took down the Baltimore Orioles 3-1, just grinding out wins like true Emerald City heroes. It feels good to see our squad making it happen at T-Mobile Park. But while we're celebrating our guys, there's some wild stuff happening out there in the National League that has everyone buzzing, and honestly, it's kinda hard to watch when it happens to a two-time All-Star. We're talking about Dansby Swanson over in Chicago, and believe me, his stat line right now is rough.

The League Has His Number, And It's Ugly

Okay, so Swanson's a big name, right? Two-time All-Star, and yeah, he's still playing excellent defensive shortstop and is a plus baserunner when he actually gets on. But this season? Oof. Across 70 games, his slash line is a brutal .175/.281/.306 with only seven dingers and 28 RBIs. Think about that for a second. A guy known for his pop, hitting under .200 deep into the season, that's just not gonna cut it for a team trying to stay in the hunt. The real kicker, though, is how opposing pitchers are just absolutely owning him. Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller dropped the truth bomb: the dude cannot hit off-speed pitches. Like, at all. Baseball Savant numbers don't lie: he's batting a measly .067 against curveballs, an even worse .051 against sliders, and a microscopic .040 against changeups. ZERO POINT ZERO FOUR ZERO! You read that right. Pitchers are just licking their chops, knowing they don't have to throw a fastball if they don't want to. He's actually seeing fa

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stballs at the lowest rate of his entire career because of this, and it’s making him slug haplessly, as they say. If you can’t make contact with anything but heat, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Chicago's Grinding, But How Long Can He Hang?

The Cubs themselves? They're trying to hang tough, sitting 38-36 and third in the NL Central, doing their best to stay in the thick of things for a World Series pursuit. They're actually leading all of baseball in walks, showing a ton of patience, and guys like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki are mashing. They've even done all this while dealing with a nasty injury bug in their pitching staff, with Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, and now Daniel Palencia all on the IL. So, props to them for staying afloat despite the chaos. But with Swanson, it's a different story. He's still doing work on defense, which is clutch. But if you can only hit fastballs, and pitchers know it, that's a long, long summer ahead at the plate. Unless he figures out what to do with those softer pitches, those numbers are gonna keep looking grim. It's a stark reminder that even the best players can hit a wall, and this league waits for no one to figure it out. You gotta make those adjustments at the plate, or you're gonna keep seeing those softer pitches, and those numbers aren't going to get any prettier. As for our Mariners, they proved again last night against the O's that they can lock it down when it counts, securing that 3-1 victory. We'll be back at T-Mobile Park cheering them on tomorrow, let's keep that winning momentum rolling and show the league what real grit looks like! Go M's!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.