Chicago Cubs fans are tired of watching Dansby Swanson underperform. At his career peak in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves, Swanson batted .277 with 25 home runs and 96 RBIs.
While 13 home runs from your shortstop by mid June in 2025, including a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning that made the difference in a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, may be good enough for some fans, it’s not good enough for all of them. This is the kind of fan response that Swanson is currently receiving.
Fans React to Dansby Swanson’s Slump
Swanson is currently under contract with the Cubs on a seven-year, $177 million deal. He earned season averages of .244 and .242 during his two seasons with the club. But after his showing so far this season, some Cubs fans want him to leave the fifth spot in the batting lineup and return to where he used to excel while playing with Atlanta in the 7-8-9 hole.
According to Andrew Wright of Newsweek, by mid-April, the Cubs were through 29 games, and Swanson had 116 at-bats. He was hitting .181 with an on-base percentage of just .232 and 38 strikeouts in that period. In the last 15 games of the stretch, it got even worse, and the Kennesaw, Georgia native was batting a mere .143 with 27 strikeouts in 63 at-bats.
“13 homers from your shortstop in mid-June. That’s pretty good.” — Craig Counsell
Some of you need to cool your jets on Dansby Swanson. I get the team was offensively bad for the past couple years during long stretches—and Dansby was in that—but he is who he has ALWAYS been.
— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) June 14, 2025
Cubs fans have been sharing their thoughts about Swanson on social media. “I think it’s not being frustrated at Dansby, but his placement in the order. This production is totally fine for him, just think he’s optimized hitting 7th here, but that’s just my opinion,” one fan said on X.
“Dansby sucked a** all of last year. All of this April. Congrats to him for having a nice May. He also had a terrible at-bat yesterday with runners on. And one on Monday in Philly. Fans are allowed to be annoyed at a guy making 30 million dollars,” another fan said.
“Nah man ….He needs to be better at the dish… He did it with the Braves, he can do it here,” another Chicago Cubs fan wrote on social media.
One Chicago fan commented, “It’s not about his performance. We know who he is as a hitter, and we appreciate what he does for the team. He just shouldn’t be hitting in front of Busch & Nico. Nico is our best contact hitter. Why wouldn’t you want him hitting after PCA to put the ball in play and let him run?”
Swanson has seen growth as the 2025 Major League Baseball season has progressed. His average is currently at .292 across 276 at-bats. But that still doesn’t change the way the fans think about him. And maybe, putting Swanson back in the 7-8-9 hole will allow him to achieve the success he reached while with the Braves. Only time will tell.