Dansby

Swanson

Swanson appears locked in at the plate this spring, batting .467 with a pair of homers through six games. The 32-year-old veteran has often felt like a player who quietly produces while fantasy managers chase louder profiles elsewhere. That may start to change after he delivered his first career 20-homer, 20-steal campaign last season. Players like Swanson tend to live in a strange space in fantasy baseball — too steady to generate hype, but too productive to ignore once the season is actually underway.

Swanson singled off of Ryne Nelson in the opening inning, but was left stranded there. He then strolled to the dish in the third and pulverized a Spencer Giesting sinker for a 375-foot (100.2 mph EV) two-run shot that increased the D’Backs’ advantage to 4-0. Swanson has been absolutely locked in at the plate to start the spring, hitting .500 (5-for-10) with a pair of homers and five RBI.

The homer came off Logan Allen in the first. It was his first spring home run since 2023, as he went without one in 75 at-bats the last two years.

Swanson wound up 2-for-17 with no RBI and nine strikeouts in the NLDS and 4-for-26 with one RBI and 15 strikeouts between his two postseason series this year. That’s a tough way to end another fine season in which he went 20/20 for the first time and finished with a 105 OPS+ that’s several points better than his career mark of 96.

Chicago will attempt to stave off elimination for the second straight contest at Wrigley Field by rolling out the exact same lineup, which features Busch in the leadoff spot to face Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. The 27-year-old slugger blasted a solo homer — his third postseason round-tripper — in the Cubs’ pivotal Game 3 win. Here’s the full lineup: Busch (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

Cubs manager Craig Counsell will shake things up with veteran Justin Turner leading off, while Michael Busch starts on the bench. Lefty opener Aaron Ashby will take the ball for Milwaukee to kick off the contest before Quinn Priester enters in a bulk relief role. Here’s the full lineup: Turner (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstring (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

Suzuki has been bumped up to the cleanup spot to face Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, with Ian Happ moved down a couple spots, after going 3-for-11 with one homer and a pair of doubles in Chicago’s Wild Card Series victory over San Diego. The 31-year-old corner outfielder finished the season with an impressive power surge and is clearly building some momentum heading into fantasy drafts next spring. Here’s the full lineup: Michael Busch (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Suzuki (RF), Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

It’s Swanson’s first 20-steal season and, thus, his first 20/20 season. Swanson had just 40 steals in his first six seasons in the bigs, but he’s up to 66 in his last four years.

Swanson got the party started early with a three-run homer off an ineffective Jake Irvin in the first inning. That gives him 22 homers on the campaign, while the stolen base is his 12th. It’s the first homer in September for the 31-year-old after hitting five in August. You can do better, you can definitely do worse.

Swanson’s homers came off objectively two of the worst pitchers in baseball in Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela, but count just the same. The 31-year-old has now homered 21 times and driven in 65 runs while forging a slash of .251/.300/.428. Add in 10 stolen bases, and Swanson has put together a solid — if unspectacular — fantasy campaign in 2025.