Swanson etches name in Braves history

WASHINGTON -- As Dansby Swanson continues to impress with both his power and glove, Braves manager Brian Snitker credits his shortstop for persevering through the struggles encountered at the start of his career.

Five years after being expedited to the Majors in what was seemingly a premature manner, Swanson can now proudly lay claim to owning the Braves single-season home run record for shortstops. He set the record when he hit his 21st homer in a 4-2 win over the Nationals on Friday night at Nationals Park.

Swanson then increased his season total to 23 when he homered twice in a 12-2 win over the Nationals on Saturday. The record had previously been held by Denis Menke, who hit 20 homers for the 1964 Milwaukee Braves.

“When he got here, we wanted him to be a 10-year veteran and it just doesn’t work that way,” Snitker said. “It takes these guys a while. It takes games, repetitions and being in the league.”

There will always be reason to question whether Swanson should have been brought to the Majors a little more than a year after the D-backs selected him with the first overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.

The former Vanderbilt star played just 127 games and collected 569 plate appearances in the Minors before beginning his tenure as Atlanta’s everyday shortstop.

But to his credit, Swanson endured some rough seasons and continued to develop offensively. He showed some flashes of promise before injuring his right heel with a little more than two months left in the 2019 season.

He built on that success during last year’s shortened season and entered Saturday with a career-best 2.5 fWAR, which ranked fourth among NL shortstops.

“I know he’s making adjustments as he goes,” Snitker said. “But just to see the whole game, the defense, the hitting and just how he’s maturing as a player has been really fun to watch.”

Ynoa confirmed
Snitker confirmed Huascar Ynoa will be activated from the 60-day injured list to start Tuesday’s game against the Marlins in Miami.

Ynoa will be taking the rotation spot previously held by Kyle Muller, who was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

Ynoa will be making his first appearance since breaking his right hand by punching the dugout bench during his May 16 start in Milwaukee. He posted a 3.09 ERA in the eight starts he made before suffering the injury.

Greene released
Shane Greene was released on Saturday, four days after the Braves had designated the right-handed reliever for assignment.

Greene never found a groove after remaining a free agent through the first five weeks of this season. He signed with the Braves on May 8, joined Atlanta’s bullpen a month later and then posted an 8.47 ERA over 19 appearances.

When the Braves acquired Greene from the Tigers on July 31, 2019, the reliever was in the midst of a season during which opponents hit .186 against his sinker, which is the pitch he uses most frequently. They batted .275 against the pitch in 2020, and then just destroyed it to the tune of a .481 batting average this year.

Greene’s slider has also declined, going from a 40.8 percent whiff rate in 2019 to 31.1 percent this year.