Here’s what I said when Dansby was first called up, “True or false: A) Dansby Swanson is famous for being Ted Knight’s caddy in Caddyshack. B) Starting a meme at his frat house in Arizona where he’d put his checkered pants on a cactus with the caption, “I’m thirsty, yo.” C) There’s no C. D) All the above. E) Was drafted a second ago by the Diamondbacks 1st overall, then traded to the Braves for the fellow WASP, Shelby Miller, and all-around terrible pitcher. If you answered D) All the above, how did you know what all the above was before reading E? Also, it was a true or false quiz, what the hell is all of the above?! So, Dansby Swanson is being called up by the Braves just in time, no lie, for their series against the Diamondbacks. Dayum. Hello, wounds, here’s your salt. In Prospector Ralph’s midseason top 100 prospects, Dansby was 22nd overall, right by Willie Calhoun, who totally tanked Mike Dukakis’ campaign. Swanson is a 22-year-old that was a’ight in Double-A (8 HRs, 6 SBs, .261 in 84 games).” And that’s me quoting me! None of that no longer applies. Kidding! Imagine I did that shizz. Here’s what I said previously, read it, then forget it. Nah, it still applies which is why I quoted it. I mean the WASP part, Caddyshack part, there’s no C and Dukakis name-drop likely won’t come into play, but the other elements are applicable. Okay, the other parts are about 5% of the quote I said that was applicable. Sue me! Which is also what a male transitioning to a female says, “Sue me!” Anyway, what can we expect of Dansby Swanson for 2017 fantasy baseball?
Out of all the fantasy baseball rookies I’ve dropped on you so far, or sofa if you’re sitting on a couch, Swanson seems the most likely to get 550+ ABs in 2017. In fact (Grey’s got more!), I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get 600+, assuming he doesn’t hit .220 and get relegated to the eight hole. That seems highly unlikely. We’ll have to see how the Braves’ offseason plays out, but Swanson strikes me as the Braves’ two-hole hitter. That’ll be a boon for his value. “What’s that?” Not you, Bret Boone. 600 at-bats in the two hole? That’s automatic value, even if he’s on the Braves and had no power or speed. So, does he have any power or speed? Well, I’m glad you asked, Clunky Segue Question! Well, I’m not going to say he has normal shortstop power, because ‘normal shortstop power’ nowadays means 30+ homers. Last year, Dansby hit 12 HRs between High-A, Double-A and the majors. One homer (that I know of) was an inside-the-parker. If you watch him hit, he jumps on grooved fastballs and drives them out, but he does not look like a power hitter. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit less than ten homers in 600 ABs. He’s likely pretty average in, uh, average. He does have a bit more speed than power and average. Though, I don’t see burner speed. I’ve seen him compared to Erick Aybar, and that sounds about right. Hopefully, he can reverse engineer the Limbo stick and get over the Aybar comparison. For 2017, I’m going to give him 200 ABs in the eight hole and 350 in the two hole and the projections of 71/9/44/.267/19 in 556 ABs.
