Dansby

Swanson

Ramírez has gone 4-for-16 with one RBI in 17 plate appearances over eight games since being called up from Triple-A Iowa last month. The 22-year-old rookie gets a look at the keystone with Nico Hoerner sliding over to shortstop with Dansby Swanson getting a rare day off.

Swanson entered this game riding a four-game hitting streak that followed a 0-for-12 slump in what’s been a horrific season thus far. He hasn’t had a multi-hit game since April 27th and hasn’t had a batting average higher than .220 since the fourth game of the season. At 32 years old, there’s reasonable fear that his production could fall off a cliff.

Swanson’s home run was his seventh of the season. He hit a two-run shot off Brandon Sproat in the fifth inning. After allowing another run, Sproat was chased from the ballgame before completing five innings. Swanson is still hitting .194 on the season despite his power.

Swanson is still tied for 14th in the majors with 26 runs scored and tied for 22nd with 25 RBI, but his average is back down to .202 at the moment. He’s 4-for-26 with no extra-base hits this month. That he’s been a valuable fantasy shortstop this year has as much to do with his teammates as it does with him.

Swanson returned to Chicago’s lineup for Friday’s series opener after missing just one game with left glute cramps that forced him to leave Wednesday’s game against the Padres. It doesn’t appear to be a concern moving forward.

Swanson should be considered day-to-day, but he was always likely to sit with a day game after a night game. Matt Shaw will start at second base and bat seventh with Nico Hoerner sliding over to shortstop. Seiya Suzuki will also get a day off, with Michael Conforto in right field and batting sixth.

There’s really no other way to describe it. Swanson is presumably day-to-day heading into Wednesday’s series finale. The 32-year-old shortstop was 1-for-2 with his second stolen base of the season prior to leaving the contest.

Swanson’s triple should have been caught by Andy Pages, but it was a well-hit ball to the wall in left-center. His homer off Tanner Scott in the ninth went 413 feet to left. Although he’s mostly batting ninth at the moment, Swanson is tied for eighth in the majors with 21 RBI and tied for fifth with 22 runs scored.

Swanson has mostly been hitting in the lower third of the Cubs order, and we say mostly about “hitting” as the walkoff upped his seasonal line to just .193/.333/.386. At least the power is still there, but Swanson’s got just one stolen base. He’s more of a quality third middle infielder in deeper leagues than a starting fantasy shortstop at this point.

Swanson is batting just .192 this season, but five of his 14 hits have been homers, and he’s up to 20 runs scored and 15 RBI in 22 games, even though he’s currently the Cubs’ No. 9 hitter. The homer tonight was his 1,200th career hit and gave him 700 career runs scored.