Swanson snaps skid with first Cubs dinger at windy Wrigley

CHICAGO -- Players know to check how the flags are rippling atop Wrigley Field's famous scoreboard when they arrive at the old ballpark. The day's offensive fortunes are often influenced by which way the wind is whipping.

In a 5-2 win over the Padres on Thursday afternoon, Dansby Swanson was thankful for what the Friendly Confines provided. He pulled a pitch from lefty Tim Hill high over left field in the seventh inning and the breeze blowing that way did the rest, carrying the ball just far enough to end a prolonged power outage.

"I feel like I got a good glimpse of what Wrigley wind can do," Swanson said with a smile. "It's obviously cool. It's a special place. And to get the first one out of the way is definitely a good feeling, for sure."

That is correct. Swanson waited until the ivy clinging to Wrigley's brick walls started to bloom before hitting his first official home run as a member of the Cubs. And in fitting fashion, the shortstop's solo shot found the metal basket that lines the outfield wall, bringing the ball to rest just beneath the bleachers.

That baseball found its way to Swanson’s locker after the game.

The solo blast ended a stretch of 104 plate appearances in 23 games without a home run, representing the longest such drought to start a season in Swanson's career. It was his longest outage since going 39 games without a home run between July and September of the 2019 season.

"That was awesome," Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal said. "I know a lot of guys were excited in the dugout for him. We don't even worry about him at all. We know he's going to come through. He's been in this league for a long time. He's produced.

"That's the great part about this lineup. If one guy's not hitting for power, there's other guys who can hit for power."

To that end, Swanson's homer was one of three on the day for Chicago, which received back-to-back blasts from Eric Hosmer and Nelson Velázquez in the second inning. Power has actually been a surprising early-season development for the Cubs, whose 33 shots as a team rank fourth in the National League.

Signed to a seven-year deal worth $177 million over the winter, Swanson launched 25 home runs in 2022 and had 27 in the previous campaign. He had two in Spring Training -- going deep in consecutive days on March 26-27 -- but had gone 134 plate appearances overall (between regular season and playoffs) without a homer before Thursday's round-tripper.

"I've definitely been grinding a little bit," Swanson said.

Swanson stormed out of the gates this season, hitting .400/.467/.450 across his first 10 games, a stretch which featured four games consisting of three or more hits. In the next dozen contests, the shortstop hit at a .159 clip, but still managed a .339 on-base percentage with the help of 12 walks (21.4 percent walk rate).

"This guy prepares as good as anybody," Cubs manager David Ross said. "That's the sign of a good hitter and a sign of a veteran player, is being able to get on base a little bit when you're not feeling sexy at the plate."

Swanson misfired in his first two plate appearances on Thursday, extending his offensive lull to an 0-for-17 showing. That ended in the fifth inning with a base hit that helped set up an RBI single for Ian Happ. Swanson's home run came in his next trip to the plate.

"The biggest thing is there's so many different ways to contribute, right?" Swanson said. "Whether it's playing defense, whether it's drawing walks, running the bases well -- there's just so many different things that can be done.

"And those little moments obviously could potentially help us win. I think that's just kind of the perspective that you need to keep."

And that is the message Swanson has been hammering home since he arrived over the winter.

"At the end of the day," he reiterated on Thursday, "playing good or not, wins are the only statistic that ever matters."

That said, the "one" now in the home run category for Swanson had to feel good, too.

"That's nice, right?" Ross said. "And to have the basket catch it."