Why Dansby Swanson is Major League Baseball’s Most Impactful Defender heading into the 2024 MLB Season
Dansby Swanson, coming off a career year with the Braves in 2022, signed a 7-year, 177 million-dollar contract with the Chicago Cubs in Free Agency. His first year with the Cubs did not disappoint. Offensively he was more than adequate, posting a .244 average with 22 home runs, along with a .744 OPS and a 104 wRC+. While he has shown to be capable of better offensively, Swanson’s impact on the Cubs was primarily due to his sensational defense, which helped bring the Cubs closer to playoff contention in 2023.
Swanson has made a demonstrable defensive impact on the teams he has been on the past two seasons. His 2022 and 2023 seasons were 2nd and 3rd in OAA (+22 in 2022, +20 in 2023) when measuring performance OAA for every qualified MLB player during that span. He also prevented a combined 31 runs during those two seasons.
Swanson’s impact on team defense is shown after his departure from the Braves and arrival to the Cubs. In 2022, the Braves ranked 9th in OAA with Swanson at shortstop (+8). In 2023, however, the Braves slipped all the way to 22nd in the league in OAA (-14).
Swanson’s Impact on the Cubs Defense
The Cubs had disastrous range and play-making ability defensively without Swanson in 2022, ranking 27th in OAA (-24).
The need for a key defensive upgrade arose for the Cubs, which Swanson became the ideal candidate to address.
Swanson’s exceptional range at shortstop played a factor in transforming the defensive range and play-making abilities of both the Braves and the Cubs.
While Orlando Arcia was a plus defender at shortstop in 2023 for the Braves when using OAA (+5), it was nowhere near the plus 20 that Swanson accumulated at shortstop for the Cubs, leaving a void in the middle infield defensively for the Braves.
Nico Hoerner was sensational for the Cubs at shortstop in 2022 according to OAA (+13), but the Cubs revolving door at second base in 2022 was marginally positive according to OAA. Once Swanson signed with the Cubs, it enabled them to move Hoerner to second base to have two of the best defensive infielders in the MLB according to OAA in 2023 (+35 combined).
With Cody Bellinger behind them in center field (+5 OAA), the Cubs had a great year defensively, which nearly helped them make the playoffs.
The team leaped from being ranked 27th in OAA in 2022 (-24) all the way up to 7th in OAA in 2023 (+18).
This would not have been possible without the substantial impact of Swanson’s defensive range and abilities. The Cubs will look to build off their defensive capabilities in 2024 with Pete Crow-Armstrong replacing Bellinger in center field, along with some of their soon-to-be free-agent acquisitions.
