Dansby Swanson’s just deserts

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Do you remember May 18, 2021? There’s no real reason why you should. The Braves had just dropped their second in a row to the Mets, dropping them to 19-23, four games back in the division. Dansby Swanson went 0-for-4 with the ol’ strikeout hat trick, and a team-low -.163 WPA in the game, including making the first out of the ninth in a one-run game. It was a pretty crappy moment for the Braves, who were now in a three-game skid, but also for Swanson, whose latest o-fer gave him a .100/.121/.200 line resulting from reaching base safely just four times in eight games. Postgame discussion, where it touched on Swanson rather than the team’s overall disappointing start, ranged from “Swanson is useless” to “hey Swanson’s gonna fall under the Mendoza Line again” to “get Orlando Arcia up here.”

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