Shortstop Dansby Swanson was reeling in September, seeing his breakout season erode during the Braves’ most important stretch of the year.
In the past five games – all Braves wins – Swanson has rediscovered himself. His revival comes just days ahead of the postseason, where his team, though not yet officially in, will try to continue surprising with its remade lineup.
Swanson is 6-for-17 (.353) with a double, home run and four RBIs over the past five games, dating to the official Padres series opener Friday night in San Diego. He was hitting .123/.211/.185 over the 19 previous September games.
Wednesday was another success for Swanson. He went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in the Braves’ 7-2 win over the Phillies, which cut their magic number to win the National League East to one. It was his first three-hit performance since Aug. 14.
“Him going the other way, the ability to stay on that off-speed, his swing is looking really good right now, and he’s putting a lot of work into it,” third baseman Austin Riley said.
Braves notes:
- The Braves are 42-30 against NL East opponents entering Thursday. Since 2018, when they began what likely will become a four-year run as division champs, the Braves are 161-103 against the NL East. In that same timeframe, only the Dodgers (172-96) have a better record against intra-divisional foes.
The Giants led the Dodgers by two games in the NL West entering Thursday, and if San Francisco unseats Los Angeles’ eight-year run atop the division, the Braves, barring a collapse, would have the longest active streak of division championships with four. It also would end the Dodgers’ bid to best the Braves’ 14 consecutive division titles (1991-2005), which is the longest in MLB history.
- Second baseman Ozzie Albies scored his 100th run of the season Wednesday. He achieved his first campaign with 30 homers (32), 100 RBIs (103) and 100 runs (101). The only other two major leaguers to achieve those marks this season: Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero and Oakland’s Matt Olson.
From the Braves’ public relations department: At 5-foot-8, Albies is the second-shortest player to post a 30-100-100 season, behind the 5-foot-6 Hack Wilson, who achieved the total three times with the Cubs (1927, 1929-30).
- Starter Max Fried has a 1.74 ERA in the second half, best in the majors (14 starts). His ERA drops to 1.46 when factoring only August and September (11 starts). The Charlie Morton-Fried duo gives the Braves the pitching firepower atop their rotation to match the Brewers, their first-round opponent who will boast a star-studded pitching staff led by aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff.
