Swanson discusses on-field struggles, social media and self esteem

“I mean, it’s different, for sure,” said Swanson, 23. “I think ultimately it helps you just kind of, in a reverse way, helps push you understand that you just need to be yourself. That ultimately, what happens inside this clubhouse is what matters.

“It’s not that we don’t appreciate fans and everything, it’s just that at the end of the day, with things like that what matters is our team chemistry in the clubhouse and our effort each day. The other stuff you can’t really control anyway.”

He’s gotten back to doing Dansby things lately, hitting .407 (11-for-27) with eight RBIs in eight June games before Saturday. His contributions were pronounced in Friday’s 3-2 win, when he had a two-run double to put the Braves ahead in the sixth inning, made a tremendous defensive play, and hustled to stretch a single to a double in the ninth inning, then scored the winning run on fellow rookie Rio Ruiz’s pinch-hit walk-off single.

Swanson said he avoided going on social media afterward to check the praise for the same reason he tended to avoid social media during his extended struggles.

“I try not to get in the habit of it,” he said. “I mean, sometimes it’s kind of unavoidable – even if you’re on social media not looking at anything and it just happens to pop up. But I try to ultimately just stay away from it, good or bad, because you’re never as bad as someone says you are and you’re never as good as someone says you are. So it’s best just to find that middle.”

He said the unwavering support of teammates helped make it easier to handle his early season woes.

“I never had any doubt” about their support, he said. “They don’t need to say it, I can just see how they act. Everyone in here is really awesome, and you understand that they’ll always have your back regardless, whatever goes on. I think it helps give you some of that confidence, it propels you forward to do what you need to do, especially when guys who’ve done it for such a long time believe in you. It does nothing but help.”

It also helps to keep things in perspective and know that almost anyone who becomes popular is going to have people waiting to try to bring him or her down as soon as they struggle. Make no mistake, “player haters” are a thing.

“I’m not comparing myself to anybody, but anybody who’s had any success (gets cut down),” he said. “That’s how it is. That’s OK.”

Even if he stayed off social media or didn’t listen to the radio call-in shows, Swanson still could be reminded daily of the depth of his offensive struggles during the first two months of the season – all he had to do was glance up to see his average, OBP and other statistics on the big scoreboards and LED videoboards in every major league ballpark.

“That’s why you don’t look at it,” he said. “Everybody said that — just don’t look. Even if you’re doing good, don’t look. There’s no point in it.”

But the most important thing to surviving a bad start and the accompanying critics and some rather vicious personal attacks isn’t just ignoring it all, Swanson said. It’s not allowing your success or failure at a job control your self esteem, which he concedes can be difficult.

“It’s understanding that you’re never as bad or as good as your performance out there,” he said. “Understand who you truly are as a person, like, away from the field. That’s one of the biggest things, understand your value and worth outside of just playing a baseball game.”