James Dansby Swanson (born February 11, 1994) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him first overall in the 2015 MLB draft.
Born in Kennesaw, Georgia, to two former college athletes from Troy University, Swanson grew up supporting the Braves. He was a two-sport athlete at Marietta High School, earning the nickname "Three-point Swanson" for his basketball prowess. The Colorado Rockies selected him out of high school in the 38th round of the 2012 MLB draft, but Swanson opted not to sign, instead playing college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. He missed most of his freshman season due to injuries, but had a breakout sophomore season as Vanderbilt's starting second baseman. The Commodores won their first-ever national championship that season, and Swanson was named the 2014 College World Series Most Outstanding Player. He shifted back to shortstop in 2015 and won the Brooks Wallace Award for the best collegiate baseball player at that position.
Swanson left Vanderbilt after the 2015 season to join the Diamondbacks and begin his professional baseball career. After one season in Arizona's farm system, he was traded to the Braves as part of a prospect package sent to Atlanta to acquire Shelby Miller. Swanson made his MLB debut in August 2016 and was the only Atlanta rookie named to the Braves' 2017 Opening Day roster, but he struggled both offensively and defensively and was sent back to Triple-A that July. Swanson's 2018 season was repeatedly derailed by wrist and hand injuries, and he missed a month of the 2019 season with a bruised heel. Healthy in 2020, Swanson set a career-high with a .274 batting average, and his 49 runs scored were third in MLB. He followed this with a championship title in the 2021 World Series, the Braves' first since 1995. He is married to Chicago Red Stars soccer player Mallory Swanson.
Early life Swanson was born on February 11, 1994, in Kennesaw, Georgia. Both of his parents were college athletes at Troy University: his mother, Nancy, played basketball and tennis, while his father, Cooter, played baseball and served as an assistant coach for the Trojans. Growing up within the Atlanta area, Swanson was a childhood fan of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB) and often attended games at Turner Field. He was a two-sport varsity athlete at Marietta High School in Georgia, playing for both the school's baseball and basketball teams. During his senior season on the Marietta Blue Devils basketball team, Swanson had a 44 percent three-point field goal shooting rate and averaged 14 points per game. He finished his three-year varsity team basketball career with 165 three-pointers, earning the nickname "Three-point Swanson".
College career The Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Swanson in the 38th round of the 2012 MLB draft, but he opted not to sign with them, instead honoring his commitment to play college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Swanson had received recruitment offers from a number of universities, including Troy, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, but he agreed to attend Vanderbilt after a conversation with coach Tim Corbin. A freshman for Vanderbilt's 2013 season, injuries and youth limited Swanson to only 11 games, four of which he started at shortstop. First, a broken bone in his foot kept him on the sidelines for six weeks. When he returned from that injury, he suffered a torn glenoid labrum. During the offseason, Swanson underwent shoulder surgery and exercised to prepare for his sophomore season in 2014.
When Tony Kemp left Vanderbilt after the 2014 season, Corbin asked Swanson to become the Commodores' starting second baseman as a sophomore in 2014. Swanson hit his first collegiate home run on February 28 in the fifth inning of Vanderbilt's 4–1 win over Stanford. By the end of March, Swanson's .430 on-base percentage (OBP) was second to shortstop Vince Conde on the Commodores. Swanson finished the regular Southeastern Conference (SEC) season with a team-leading .366 batting average, 47 runs scored, 21 doubles, and 17 stolen bases, and he was an All-SEC First Team selection. Although Vanderbilt was eliminated early in the 2014 SEC tournament by Ole Miss, Swanson and the rest of the team still clinched a berth in that year's NCAA tournament. Partway through the tournament, Swanson recorded his 27th double of the season during Vanderbilt's 6–4 win over UC Irvine, tying the school record set by Warner Jones 10 years prior. Vanderbilt's postseason run concluded with their first ever national championship when they defeated Virginia 3–2 in the College World Series (CWS) finals. Swanson was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player after batting .323 with five runs scored and two RBI in the tournament, as well as for his defense at second base. He was also named to the All-Tournament team at designated hitter, while Branden Cogswell of Virginia received the honor at second base.
Going into the 2015 college baseball season, Conde's departure and the season-long suspension of third baseman Xavier Turner forced Corbin to move several members of his infield: freshman Will Toffey started at third base, which pushed Tyler Campbell, who had played at third during the CWS, to second, and in turn moved Swanson to shortstop. By the end of March, the Commodores were second in the SEC with a .312 batting average, while Swanson led the conference with 30 runs scored. Between 2014 and 2015, he made 117 consecutive starts for Vanderbilt before missing the Commodores' April 28 game due to illness. After finishing the regular season with a .347 batting average, 50 RBI, 34 extra-base hits, and a conference-leading 60 runs scored, Swanson was both named to the All-SEC Second Team and was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the best college baseball player in the United States. He was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which ultimately went to Andrew Benintendi of Arkansas. Swanson rounded out the 2015 college baseball awards season with the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the best collegiate shortstop in the country.
While facing Missouri in the 2015 SEC tournament, both Swanson's two home runs and the Commodores' four as a team tied SEC Tournament single-game records. Vanderbilt finished second in the SEC Tournament after losing 7–3 to Florida in the conference finals. After hitting the game-winning home run against Indiana in the second game of the 2015 NCAA tournament, Swanson struggled in the tournament. Through the first eight games, he batted .242 with 11 strikeouts, and he was only 1-for-13 with five strikeouts and a defensive error in Vanderbilt's first three CWS games. In a rematch of the previous season's CWS, Virginia defeated Vanderbilt in the finals to win their first-ever national title.
Professional career
Arizona Diamondbacks organization (2015) The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Swanson first overall in the 2015 MLB draft. It was the first time a college shortstop had been drafted first overall since the San Diego Padres took Bill Almon in 1974. He signed with the team on July 17, 10 minutes before the 2p.m. (PT) deadline for that year's draft picks, and accepted a $6.5 million signing bonus. His professional baseball debut was delayed when, during a simulated game before assignment to one of the Diamondbacks' minor league affiliates, Swanson was hit in the face by a fastball from pitching prospect Yoan López. He was diagnosed with a concussion and required 14 stitches on the side of his mouth. After recovering from the hit, Swanson was assigned to the Low–A Hillsboro Hops, making his professional debut on August 13, 2015. He went 0-for-2 at the plate, striking out twice, drawing a walk, and scoring a run. Having missed six weeks with the concussion, Swanson was told that he would finish the season with Hillsboro rather than receive a late-season promotion to push his development. He played in 22 games for the Hops, batting .289 with one home run and 11 RBI in 83 at bats while leading Hillsboro to a Northwest League championship.
Atlanta Braves (2016–2022) On December 9, 2015, the Diamondbacks traded Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and Aaron Blair to the Atlanta Braves for Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier. The Braves were in the middle of a rebuild, and president of baseball operations John Hart said the team "wanted to make it painful for [Arizona] with players that we got back" by refusing a Miller trade until they received significant prospects like Swanson. After spending spring training with the Braves, Swanson was sent to the High–A Carolina Mudcats. He played 22 games there, batting .333 with a Carolina League-leading 12 doubles, before receiving a promotion to the Double-A Mississippi Braves at the end of April. Swanson spent the first part of the season in competition with Ozzie Albies for a future starting shortstop role in Atlanta, but in July, Albies, who had been playing in Triple-A, was sent down to Mississippi so that he and Swanson could practice as a second base-shortstop pair. That season, Swanson was selected to appear in both the Southern League All-Star Game and the All-Star Futures Game. He appeared in 84 games for Mississippi, batting .261 with eight home runs and 45 RBI. In 105 games between Carolina and Mississippi, he batted .275 for the minor league season, with nine home runs and 55 RBI in 411 at bats.
2016–2018: Injuries and inconsistency
Swanson was called up to Atlanta on August 16, 2016, after the Braves traded shortstop Erick Aybar to the Detroit Tigers to clear the position for him. He made his MLB debut that day, recording his first two major league hits, both singles, in a 10–3 loss to the Minnesota Twins. His first major league home run, coming in the second inning of a 9–7 loss to the Washington Nationals on September 6, was inside-the-park: the hit off of Gio Gonzalez went over Trea Turner and ricocheted off the center field fence, and Swanson beat Bryce Harper's throw home to record the run. It was the first inside-the-park home run for the Braves since Wes Helms in 2001, and Swanson was the first Brave since Paul Runge in 1985 to have his first career home run fall inside the park. He remained with the Braves through the remainder of their 2016 season, finishing the year with a .302 batting average, three home runs, 17 RBI, and 11 extra-base hits. Swanson had at least one hit in 25 of the 38 games in which he played.