Do-it-all Dansby puts on 'unbelievable' performance

MESA, Ariz. -- After Dansby Swanson stepped on home plate and turned to jog back to the Cubs' dugout, manager David Ross blocked the shortstop's path. Swanson grinned wide and Ross wrapped him in a hug.

In the third inning of Sunday's 5-0 Cactus League win over the Royals, Swanson had just launched his first home run in a Cubs uniform. It was a shoulder-loosening blast, given the ice-cold offensive showing this spring for the North Siders' big-ticket offseason addition.

And the homer came after some early-morning ribbing from Ross.

"He gave me a hard time today," Swanson said with a smile. "It kind of got me going a little bit -- I'll say that. No, it felt great, obviously. Any time you can start to feel like you're getting right on track for the start of the season is a big deal."

Swanson picked a great time to put on a show for the fans who flocked to Sloan Park four days before Opening Day at Wrigley Field. Not only did he belt the home run -- crushing a Ryan Yarbrough pitch to the crowded berm in center field -- but he made a handful of highlight-reel plays in the field.

Swanson made a pair of quick sliding grabs on sharply-hit grounders -- one to his left on the first pitch of the game and one to his right for the final out in the sixth. In the seventh, Swanson made a spin-and-throw to first for an out on a grounder up the middle. Later in the inning, he tracked down a chopper up the middle and flipped it on the run to Nico Hoerner at second base.

"Unbelievable. That's what he does," said Cubs lefty Justin Steele, who logged six scoreless innings in his last start of the spring. "He's an unbelievable defender. You love pitching when a guy like that's at shortstop and you've got a guy like Nico right across from him."

It was an all-around showing that provided a glimpse into why the Cubs gifted Swanson with the second-largest free-agent contract (seven years, $177 million) in franchise history. He has the potential to offer elite defense, decent pop and plus speed on a daily basis for a team trying to work its way back to the postseason conversation.

While the defense has been present all spring for Swanson -- the National League's Gold Glove winner at short with 21 outs above average in 2022 -- the offense has been slow going. Heading into Sunday, the shortstop was just 3-for-37 in the batter's box this spring.

"He's seeing the baseball. It's about timing," Ross said. "The swings are there. I can't believe, I said to him the other day, 'How many pitches have you fouled straight back on really good swings?' To me, that's all timing."

Ross also noted that Swanson has drawn nine walks this spring, offering evidence that this was not a case of a player feeling lost at the plate. Swanson agreed that, in general, he has been swinging at the appropriate pitches, but struggling to be on time.

Swanson recently had one of his own hitting coaches at Cubs camp to help him with some cues at the start of his stance and swing. And then on Sunday, the shortstop said he tried to take a more aggressive approach in the batter's box to shake things up.

"I can very much overthink it," Swanson said. "Sometimes it's just kind of, you just go up there and just hit. Be ready to hit. Kind of the whole, 'I'm swinging until I'm not,' instead of, 'Let's see if I want to swing,' you know?"

Over the past two years, Swanson posted fairly consistent numbers for Atlanta. He had 27 homers and 33 doubles in 160 games in 2021, and then racked up 25 homers and 32 doubles in 162 games in '22. His OPS+ jumped to 115 last year from 99 two seasons ago.

The Cubs are hoping for similar production in the year ahead for Swanson, who projects to hit in the second slot of the lineup behind Hoerner. In the field, Swanson and Hoerner will anchor what should be a stout defensive unit.

"The defense part's going to be huge for us," Swanson said. "I think we're going to be kind of a gap-to-gap team, which I feel like most people would probably agree with. And I feel like us running the bases is going to be huge this season. I feel like we have a great group."

Swanson laughed when asked what Ross said to get him fired up on Sunday.

"Ah, I can't share that," quipped the shortstop.