It needed to happen, and honestly, it should have happened before now. That being said, Craig Counsell isn’t just giving one of his veterans a breather on Saturday, as the manager confirmed that he has indeed benched the worst hitter on the Chicago Cubs, shortstop Dansby Swanson.
The 32-year-old delivered the game-tying hit in Thursday’s walk-off victory over the Athletics, but those moments have been rare for Swanson, who has been one of the worst hitters in all of MLB. In 61 games, Swanson has recorded a slash line of .180/.285/.322. His 75 wRC+ is tied with two other players for 17th worst among qualified hitters.
It has been so much worse when you see the numbers on paper. Swanson had four RBI, including the game-winning two-run home run in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 24. That big game raised Swanson’s OPS to a season-high .802. Since then, we’re talking 35 games and 131 plate appearances, Swanson has posted a .458 OPS, slashing .160/.231/.227 with one home run and five doubles.
Swanson’s 32 wRC+ since April 25 is the worst among all hitters in the National League and only second-worst in MLB behind Andres Gimenez.
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Nico Hoerner is starting at shortstop on Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, while rookie Pedro Ramirez is getting the nod at second base. Swanson has been given a day off twice this season, once against the White Sox and then another seat on the bench against the Houston Astros. However, prior to Saturday’s game, Counsell said this time was different.
Swanson won’t be back in the lineup Sunday either.
We’ve seen this work in the past with Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, as the Cubs have sat their veterans for a few games, giving them a reset. Hopefully, it works for Swanson because it’s not that he hasn’t come through, he has become an automatic out in the Cubs lineup for the past six weeks.
We’ll see if Ramirez takes advantage of the playing time. He’s started four times since being called up a few weeks back. The switch-hitter is 4-for-16 with a walk. As for Hoerner, you can depend on him defensively at shortstop, but he’s also been a negative at the plate for the Cubs since April 18, posting a 65 wRC+ in his last 200 plate appearances.
These guys have to hit, and they haven’t, and if they don’t, then it’s going to get much uglier as the season goes on for the Cubs.
