Frustrated fans watching Dansby Swanson’s batting average plummet well below .200 are wondering when Cubs manager Craig Counsell is going to sit his starting shortstop.
It didn’t happen Wednesday, with Swanson actually bumped up in the batting order to the No. 6 spot. He doubled in his first at-bat against the Athletics, just his fifth hit in his last 12 games.
But such a move is hardly off the table should Swanson’s slump continue.
“You certainly consider all those things,” Counsell said, “and you think about them [and whether it’s] the right time and if it’s necessary. All those things, you think about.”
It’s far from the strongest language the Cubs skipper could have used. But he’s already employed the tactic with a struggling veteran, sitting left fielder Ian Happ in back-to-back games last month.
Happ was in the thick of a brutal stretch at the time, hitting .148 over 17 games, before getting a couple games in a row off. Since, he’s been one of the team’s better hitters, batting .294 in eight games.
The whole season has seemed a brutal stretch for Swanson — who’s got the second highest salary on the team, showing how important it is for the Cubs to get him right rather than give up on him — and his .181 batting average was the third lowest among baseball’s qualified hitters coming into Wednesday.
Of course, while Swanson’s ugly numbers have made him a lightning rod for fan complaints, he’s far from the only thing wrong with the Cubs’ offense, which has looked broken for the last few weeks.
Swanson didn’t turn in Tuesday night’s poor showing all by himself. Cubs’ hitters combined for just four hits, all singles, and one run in a loss to the Athletics, their 17th defeat in their previous 22 games.
If any one move could fix the entire lineup overnight, you better believe Counsell would make it.
“One of the challenging things about our game is that sometimes you do have to wait for things to happen,” he said. “As much as you want to put your finger on [something] and say, ‘Change it,’ the game makes you wait, makes you sit in discomfort for a little while, tests you.”
Counsell did make the decision to pinch hit for Swanson late in Tuesday’s contest, sending Moises Ballesteros to the plate in Swanson’s stead, citing Ballesteros’ ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark on a night where runs were at a premium.
Showing how rough things have been team-wide, Ballesteros didn’t seem like that much better of an option. He has struggled mightily, too, in the middle of a 6-for-69 stretch.
“This isn’t going to continue for Dansby. He’s going to be better,” Counsell said. “We’re just at a moment in time right now. I don’t think [pinch hitting for him is] going to happen very often. He’s going to be better.”
Kernels from Iowa
Might Javier Assad soon make a return to the big league roster?
The righty pitcher went just one inning in his most recent start for Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday. But that was the plan, with the Cubs aiming to keep him fresh should he be needed in the coming days.
“We’re just being cautious with things that could happen over the weekend,” Counsell said.
Additionally, utility man Matt Shaw’s ongoing rehab assignment with Iowa could be a relatively lengthy one as the Cubs try to get the bench player some regular playing time as he works back from a tight back.
