Dansby Swanson

Position: SS
Born: 2/11/1994
Height: 6'0
Weight: 190
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Via trade from the Diamondbacks on December 8, 2015, along with RHP Aaron Blair and OF Ender Inciarte for RHP Shelby Miller (ATL). Originally drafted in the first round (#1 overall) of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft (ARI).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: .261 with eight homers and 45 RBIs at Mississippi (Double-A) with 13 doubles, a .342 OBP and .402 SLG.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Mississippi August 17 when SS Erick Aybar was traded to the Tigers.
MLB Debut Date: 8/17/2016

Debut Details
August 17, in a 10-3 loss to the Twins. The starting shortstop, he batted eighth and went 2-for-4. In his first at-bat, in the bottom of the second inning against Kyle Gibson, he lined out to center field. In his second at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, he singled to right field. In the bottom of the seventh, he struck out swinging. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, he singled again to second field and advanced to second on “defensive indifference” but was stranded there to end the game.

Player Notes
Let’s get the (very brief) 2015 numbers out of the way and then get into the fun stuff. In his pro debut at Hillsboro (Short-Season A) Swanson hit .289 in 22 games with one homer and 11 RBIs, adding seven doubles and three triples, and walking as many times – 14 – as he struck out. One of the most heralded college players in recent memory, and deservedly so, the player known at two-time College World Series finalist (and 2014 winner) Vanderbilt as “Lieutenant Dans” (a reference to the “Forrest Gump” character Lieutenant Dan who was Gump’s best friend and commanding officer) was the CWS Most Outstanding Player in ’14 and the quickest “1:1” arrival to the big leagues since Nats ace Stephen Strasburg in 2009, making it up a mere year after his draft. Traded just months after being chosen by the Diamondbacks (when the rules had been changed about that sort of thing) to his hometown Braves (he hails from nearby Marietta), he has been hailed, deservedly, as a hometown hero and it took the town no time at all between word of his promotion and his arrival in Atlanta to get welcome signs up on the billboards on I-75. He not only has everything it takes to get the job done in the middle of the infield (where he is expected to be joined by fellow uber-prospect Ozzie Albies before long for the long haul) but his leadership and makeup are off the charts. A line-drive hitter with a little power and plus defense, it’s Dans time in Atlanta (oh, and his name is actually James Dansby Swanson, with Dansby being his mom’s maiden name), but this makes him (no big surprise) the first major league player with the first name of Dansby. If he lives up to billing it could be a popular first name with boys born in 2017 (joining what is sure to be an onslaught of baby girls named Simone). You’ll have no problem finding articles about Swanson but this one from the Nashville Tennesseean, by the awesome Adam Sparks, is totally worth the read.

2080 Notes
Swanson checked in at No. 23 on our Preseason Top 125 Prospect Rankings List, where we had this to say about him: “Swanson’s plus arm, plus glove at shortstop, and power from the position got him drafted first overall in 2015, and those tools were on display in Short-Season A ball over the year. Swanson is a high-IQ player, and he should stick at shortstop long term.” You can also check out our Prospect Spotlight on Swanson here, and our scouting report on him here.