Dansby Swanson is changing the way he gets into the box, a small adjustment he hopes will help him see the ball better and pull himself out of a rough May at the plate. He said the goal is to create a better way to actually see pitches, and the Cubs are already testing tweaks to his setup and position in batting practice and games.
The reason Swanson is drawing attention now is simple: the numbers have gone the wrong way. He entered May after a strong March and April, when he put up a 124 wRC+ and a 16.4 percent walk rate, but through Wednesday in May that line had fallen to a 30 wRC+ and a 6.8 percent walk rate. His chase rate jumped from 21.5 percent to 32.1 percent, while opposing pitchers pushed their breaking ball usage against him from 36.5 percent to 47.9 percent.
That is the problem Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly is trying to solve. Kelly said Swanson is chasing pitches, especially sliders down and away, and that the club is working on setup and position in the cage and in batting practice. The changes are not dramatic. Kelly said Swanson has been a bit wider with his base and has slightly lowered his leg kick, part of an effort to give him a better look at pitches that have been beating him lately.
Swanson said he is right-eye dominant, which has turned the work into something more specific than a standard slump fix. He asked himself, “What can I do to get my right eye to always be on the ball?” and described the process as finding a different perspective to see better. The idea, he said, is not complicated, but it matters when a hitter is trying to regain the kind of approach that defined his better months.
There were signs on Wednesday night that the adjustment may be helping. Swanson said he felt much more like himself, and he finished with two hits, including a double. On Thursday, in the Cubs’ 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, he laid off sliders away from Paul Skenes and again showed more of the pitch selection that carried him early in the season. He said it was more in line with what he had been doing when he was going better — hitting the ball to different parts of the field and taking his walks — and called it a promising sign.
The caution is that Swanson has always been streaky, and one good night does not erase the month he has just had. But the combination of a wider base, a slightly quieter leg kick and a sharper focus on how he sees the ball gives the Cubs a real working plan, not just a hope, as they try to stop the slide before it defines his season.
