\n<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200bCHICAGO \u2014 Amid a collective slump that has amplified the boos at Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell plans to temporarily bench Dansby Swanson, hoping \u201ca couple days away from the game\u201d will help the All-Star shortstop regroup.<\/p>\n
Swanson is a healthy player, Counsell said, and the manager wound up subbing him in as the automatic runner at second base for Saturday\u2019s 10th inning against the San Francisco Giants. Swanson scored the winning run when Michael Busch singled past diving second baseman Luis Arraez and right fielder Victor Bericoto misplayed the ball for an error, giving the Cubs a 3-2 walk-off victory.<\/p>\n
The crowd of 39,248 erupted, and the players celebrated on the field, but the Cubs have already seen so many highs and lows this season that they aren\u2019t viewing this as a turning point.<\/p>\n
Though still delivering his usual Gold Glove-caliber defense, Swanson has a .180 batting average and an OPS+ that makes him roughly 24 points worse than a league-average hitter. He\u2019s nearing the halfway point in the fourth season of a seven-year, $177 million contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to get him a different look and a little break mentally,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe things that he\u2019s working on doing, we think, are good things and the right things. We haven\u2019t seen many signs of positive results from it. But let\u2019s try to commit to a couple more days of good work and maybe cement some of those thoughts and habits. And then take it into a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being featured in \u201cSunday Night Baseball,\u201d the Cubs are off Monday before a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies starting Tuesday night at Coors Field, a hitter\u2019s paradise.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nico Hoerner was the starting shortstop in Saturday\u2019s lineup, with rookie infielder Pedro Ram\u00edrez covering second base, underlining the potential options for a club with several versatile defenders.<\/p>\n
Does Swanson understand the reasoning behind this decision?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes and no,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThat\u2019s how you usually expect it to be. He wants to keep going out there and figuring it out. But he understands why we\u2019re doing this. These guys want to play. They believe. That\u2019s how it should be. So, you expect some of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swanson, now 32, developed an ironman reputation with the Atlanta Braves, playing in 160 games and three playoff rounds during their 2021 World Series-winning campaign.<\/p>\n
During his contract year with the Braves in 2022, Swanson appeared in all 162 games and made 161 starts at shortstop, logging 1,433 innings at a premium defensive position while also producing 25 home runs and 96 RBIs.<\/p>\n
As advertised, Swanson remains a peak defender, and his offensive production can be particularly streaky.<\/p>\n
After an encouraging start that saw Swanson launch six home runs in April, he has produced only one since the beginning of May, a 31-game sample that generated a .437 OPS at a time when nearly all of Chicago\u2019s established hitters fell into a funk.<\/p>\n
Cubs outfielder Ian Happ seemed to benefit from a similar break recently, and Counsell gave All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker a \u201creset\u201d last summer, so this move is not unprecedented. For the moment, the Cubs want Swanson to focus on his work in the batting cage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just mechanical things and thoughts around the direction you\u2019re trying to create,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to create good swings. You\u2019re trying to create consistent swing decisions. That\u2019s what produces results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counsell had also recently talked about how Swanson needed good feedback in a game. The pent-up emotions poured out of Swanson after he delivered a clutch RBI single in the ninth inning of Thursday\u2019s 7-6 comeback win over the Athletics, which suggested that maybe the Cubs would create a new sense of momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is who we are,\u201d Swanson said in the Wrigley Field clubhouse after that walk-off victory.<\/p>\n
The next day, the Giants beat the Cubs 18-3.<\/p>\n
Saturday afternoon, the Cubs almost wasted Ben Brown\u2019s 5 1\/3 scoreless innings and Pete Crow-Armstrong\u2019s two home runs, including another dramatic one with two outs in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n
Though Swanson became Saturday\u2019s headliner for being on the sideline, the story of this downswing has been several high-paid hitters underachieving in the batter\u2019s box. For this offense to function at a high level, Alex Bregman can\u2019t be a singles hitter and Seiya Suzuki can\u2019t go nearly a month between home runs. Hoerner, too, can be more of a catalyst.<\/p>\n
Neither Hoerner (flyout) nor Bregman (strikeout) could get the big two-out hit Saturday when the Cubs loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh innings against San Francisco\u2019s bullpen.<\/p>\n
The Cubs rank near the bottom of the majors with a .228 batting average with runners in scoring position. Since getting to 15 games above .500 in May with their second 10-game winning streak, the Cubs have endured a 7-19 stretch.<\/p>\n
Swanson\u2019s steady presence was essential to the Cubs\u2019 winning 92 games and a playoff round last year. Across the past four seasons, this is how Baseball Reference has rated his overall contributions in terms of WAR: 5.5, 5.2, 4.0 and 4.5.<\/p>\n
With a 34-31 record and a plus-4 run differential, the Cubs have drifted into mediocrity, which in June still makes them a viable contender for an expanded playoff field. On Friday morning, Counsell said he believes the best possible version of this team features Swanson as the everyday shortstop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always lessons in the bad,\u201d Swanson said, \u201cespecially when you\u2019re grinding through things. For me, it\u2019s just been all about, \u2018If you show up and be yourself, whether you go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, you can still impact winning in so many other ways.\u2019 It\u2019s embracing more of that and kind of taking the pressure off of just the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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