LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Dansby Swanson was out of the Braves lineup Wednesday due to back tightness, a precautionary move that the rookie shortstop said made sense considering there were still nearly four weeks to go before opening day.
Swanson said his back tightened late in Saturday’s game against the Marlins, when he had four plate appearances – his most this spring — before leaving.
“Yeah, it was my first time playing that many innings, so just kind of getting used to being out there for that long,” said Swanson, who is 7-for-16 (.438) with a double, four RBIs and a .526 on-base percentage in six Grapefruit League games. “Just a little bit of tightness, no need to push it past something and make it serious. Just kind of a day-by-day thing.”
He hasn’t played since and has been limited to throwing between rehab sessions. The Braves had road games with long bus rides Sunday and Tuesday and were off Monday, so Swanson’s absence from the lineup wasn’t conspicuous until Wednesday.
“One of those things where, second week of March, no sense in pushing it past what we need to at this point,” Swanson said. “It’s hard to put a (timetable) on it, we’ll just see each day. It could be great tomorrow, or not. Just one of those things where we’ll see day by day, and stay in good communication with Snit so we’re on the same page.”
Swanson, 23, said the last time he had a similar back issue was playing basketball at Marietta High School.
