After getting three hits Tuesday, including his third homer in five games, Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson was moved up to second in the batting order in Wednesday’s series finale against the Padres.
“He had a big homer on the homestand (that ended Sunday) and he’s just swinging the bat really good. He’s making good decisions, and he’s not fouling off (good) pitches,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said after Swanson’s three-hit, three-RBI game Tuesday, which included a run-scoring single in an 11-pitch at-bat.
“That was a really good at-bat, I don’t know how many pitches it was on that RBI single. It was a really tough, good at-bat right there.”
Swanson went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Wednesday in a 3-1 loss, facing a different pitcher in each plate appearance as did every other Braves hitter. The Padres pieced together the game using all relievers -- five of them, none of whom worked more than 2 1/3 innings nor faced the same batter twice.
They combined to limit the Braves to four hits and two walks with 13 strikeouts.
Swanson was 7-for-18 with three homers, seven RBIs and a 1.394 OPS in his past five games through Tuesday, after batting .186 with one homer, 16 strikeouts and a .611 OPS in his first 13 games following a 2 1/2-week stint on the disabled list for left-wrist inflammation.
“No one’s worried about Dansby,” Braves slugger Freddie Freeman said. “When you come off the DL, no matter how long you stay on the DL, your timing’s not going to be there. I pretty much told him, your timing’s not going to be there for a little bit. And he kept grinding, kept going, and now we’re seeing him get his timing back.”
Swanson said, “I feel kind of comfortable, like where I was before (the injury). Just back into that, back into what I do best. I just feel solidified with what I’ve been doing.”
Wednesday marked only the second time this season that Swanson hit higher than sixth in the order and the first time in seven weeks. He hit second April 14, when then-slumping leadoff man Ender Inciarte was given a day off and Ozzie Albies moved up from second to leadoff.
Inciarte is slumping again now – he got a day off Wednesday -- and Albies hit leadoff the past three games, with Johan Camargo batting second in the first two of those before Swanson was moved into the spot Wednesday. Swanson hit eighth in 11 consecutive games before the change.
Snitker said he didn’t know if he’d hit Swanson second again this weekend during a three-game series against the Dodgers. He had only decided to do it the night before Wednesday’s game, since they were facing a left-hander (Matt Strahm, who started and pitched 2 1/3 innings).
When hitting sixth or higher in the order, Swanson was 18-for-49 (.367) before Wednesday. He ranked 10th in the National League with a .367 average (15-for-42) with runners in scoring position and had seven extra-base hits and a .643 slugging percentage in those situations.
Swanson didn’t know until he was batting second until he arrived at the ballpark Wednesday and saw the lineup posted. He didn’t plan to approach it any differently than batting near the bottom of the order.
“I just walked in, that’s where I was (in the lineup),” he said, “so I’m going to go out there and do what I do.”
