In a season full of failures for the Chicago Cubs, one player has stuck out like a sore thumb regarding the season’s biggest disappointment. While watching the Cubs roster, I see plenty of the Cubs bats have been brutal. Dansby Swanson has been one of the hardest watches of the 2024 season.
Following the Cubs’ 7-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, a former MLB player was not afraid to rip into Swanson’s recent play on Saturday.
The former MLB all-star, Cliff Floyd, went on to rip Dansby Swanson on the Cub’s very own network, Marquee Sports. Considering Swanson’s season as well, everything that Floyd says feels justified.
“It looks like he’s trying too hard to do something, and it’s not comfortable for him.”
– Cliff Floyd (Marquee Sports Network)
This was after a game where Swanson went 0-3 with three strikeouts. Everything Floyd said feels right just because of how bad Swanson has truly been. It feels like, to this point, following a minor injury in July last season, it has been all downhill for him. He had a tough second half in 2023 after being selected to the All-Star Game. That production has only seemingly gotten worse going into 2024.
Looking at Swanson’s numbers in 2024, you can see how just about everything is at a career low for him. The 30-year-old is struggling to keep a batting average over .200, with him batting .204 on the season, and his OPS+ is down nearly 20 points from his career average. He is striking out at an all-time career high with him striking out in over 30 percent of his at-bats.
We sit now and look at how the last year and a half of Dansby Swanson has been less than great. While the glove is certainly still there, you remind yourself that the Cubs aren’t paying a player this much for just their good glove. Remember, Swanson is only in year two of a seven-year, 177-million-dollar deal.
What does that remind you of? It starts to ring, flashing comparisons to that of Jason Heyward. Now, you hope that doesn’t end up being the case, but Heyward was less than average throughout his 6-year tenure in Chicago. But the numbers are certainly indicative of that of Heyward.
Especially when you consider the big contracts that the Cubs have handed out in the past. 4 players really come to mind and that’s Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Jason Heyward, and Dansby Swanson. In terms of positional players, the Cubs have not had the greatest hit rate.
Plus, you begin to wonder why Atlanta was so willing to let him walk. He was a legendary player in that organization, and he brought a World Series back to his hometown team. Did they know that the regression was very likely, and that’s why they were so fine with letting him go for nothing?
Nonetheless, it’s such a frustrating turn of events, and it’s good to see analysts like Cliff Floyd willing to go on the Cubs’ very own sports network and rip him about his play. In all reality, if you stand on either side of this debate, I think we can all agree that Swanson needs to step up and improve for the Cubs’ success.
