It really is a shame that Dansby Swanson wound up on the IL this season. His heel injury on July 23 was disappointing in so many ways. First off, his absence in the Atlanta Braves starting lineup left a hole that couldn’t be filled internally, which ended up resulting in the addition of Adeiny Hechavarria — who has performed admirably so far, by the way.
Secondly, and more importantly, Dansby Swanson was having the best season of his career.
Let’s start from the beginning
Swanson had a nice little 38-game taste of the big leagues in 2016 and actually played well in that initial season, batting .