Last weekend Braves manager Brian Snitker said he wasn’t ready to move Dansby Swanson down from No. 2 in the batting order because the rookie shortstop was making good contact with bad results.
That was before Swanson went 2-for-21 with six strikeouts and no walks over his next six games, prompting Snitker to give Swanson a day off Thursday. When Swanson returned to the lineup Friday at Philadelphia, Snitker moved him to No. 8 in the batting order. Adonis Garcia hit No. 2 for the second consecutive game.
Swanson entered the Phillies series hitting .131 with a .159 on-base percentage.
“It kind of felt like this was the time, after the day off, to change the scenery a little bit,” Snitker said. “For both of them. I want to get them both going because everybody else, we are swinging the bat OK. I don’t think we are that far away from clicking.”
Swanson has had a bit of bad luck — the 89.4 mph average exit velocity of the 42 balls he put in play this season ranked fourth on the team and nearly 2 mph above the major league average, according to Statcast data. But Swanson’s strikeout percentage of 25.4 was worst among Braves regulars.
Garcia entered Friday hitting .175 with a .217 OBP. Garcia was even unluckier than Swanson: he struck out during just 13.3 percent of his 60 plate appearances and got just three hits on the 11 balls that he hit with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph.
Snitker gave Swanson the occasional day off last season during his 38-game stint in the big leagues, when Swanson hit .302 with a .361 OBP. Swanson said he took the latest rest day as a chance to learn.
“It was a good day to relax and observe and watch,” Swanson said. “You can always learn whether you are playing or not playing. It gives you a chance to let things sink in and learn from other guys.”
Swanson, 23, is a No. 1 overall draft pick out of Vanderbilt by way of Marietta. He maintained his rookie status for this season and is ranked the No. 3 overall prospect by Baseball America.
Swanson batted eighth for 101 of his 145 plate appearances in 2016 and hit .333 with a .380 OBP in that slot.
Snitker said that he’s mindful of not giving the Swanson the impression that he’s lost confidence in him by moving him down in the order. Snitker said that batting lower in the order may take pressure off of Swanson to feel he must get on base so that Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis can drive him home.
“I think maybe you can get away from just letting it fly and relaxing your mind and just hitting,” Snitker said. “Hopefully he will do that because, down the road, hopefully he is going to be right back up there (at No. 2).”
