Dansby Swanson Questions All-Star Voting as Pete Crow-Armstrong Snub Sparks Debate

Dansby Swanson has struggled this season, but he's starting to get things back on track.

The two-time MLB All-Star shortstop has been in a hitting slump all season long, batting just .183 entering the Chicago Cubs' series against the New York Mets. 

For perspective, his career low for a season is .232, during his first full season with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, and the lowest for any Cubs batter, by qualified measures, in franchise history is Ivan De Jesus' .194 batting average.

Swanson has been on a bit of a hot streak as of late, going three straight games with a hit sandwiched in between the Cubs' series against the Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays. 

Before boosting his batting average to .183, his .176 batting average was the lowest in the modern era of any position player in Cubs history (with at least 265 plate appearances).

However, there are signs that Swanson is starting to turn things around, batting 250/.400/.500 over a recent five-game stretch, going 4-for-16, walking four times, homering and stealing three bases.

"Early in the year, it started out well, was hitting a lot of balls hard, just not getting results," said Swanson in a one-on-one interview with SportsBoom.us. 

"As you know, baseball has no mercy on anybody, and I wasn't hitting the ball hard or getting hits, so it was like, 'Wow, this isn't fun.' I feel like what's really helped is just kind of old habits can die hard at times, and just really trying to beat out some of the old habits that have kind of caused some of the issues so far." 

"At the end of the day, the last week-plus, things have definitely started trending in the right direction," Swanson continued. "I've told people, my first two months were so bad, the last four are going to be electric, it's like the law of averages is going to make this thing be so much fun the second half of the year."

'Adjustments' Have Led to Recent Hot Streak

When asked if he's made major changes to his mechanics, Swanson said it's more so little tweaks that have resulted in better play and more hits as of late.

"It's more like little adjustments than anything," said Swanson. 

"I had a problem with really early rotation, basically just really spinning off, so basically trying to overcorrect that to be a little bit more square. But it's not like anything crazy mechanically, it's more just something emphasizing what I do on my work."

Entering their series against the Mets, the Cubs are 43-37, which is tied for second in the NL Central and seven games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for first in the division. Entering the All-Star break last year, the Cubs were scorching hot, leading the division and ranking second in the National League with a 57-39 record.

They're currently in position for a wild-card spot, but they're narrowly leading a number of teams for the last spot. Swanson has acknowledged that he, along with the rest of the Cubs position players, hasn't performed offensively to where they want to be.

"Yeah, I think number one, we've played like decent throughout the year, we've had some ups and downs, we've had two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak," Swanson added. 

"Just kind of crazy thing, the main thing for us is our position player group is probably offensively performing where we would have liked to have been saying in the beginning of the year, what do you want to accomplish? You'd probably say that we've underachieved in that regard."

"I think just some guys getting back on track will be huge," Swanson continued. 

"Obviously, Pete's (Crow-Armstrong) been swinging it really well, but just like up and down the lineup, I feel like there's some room for growth there defensively. I feel like, defensively and on the basis, I feel like we're really, really special. We've got a lot of consistency; we've dealt with a lot of rough injuries in the pitching department, which has not made things easy for us. I think we have a really good chance to play our best ball towards the end of the season, and that's really all you can ask for."

All-Star Voting System is Flawed

Pete Crow-Armstrong is the Cubs' 24-year-old budding superstar. 

He clinched his first All-Star appearance last season and is the hottest batter in baseball right now, recently clinching National League Player of the Week honours after not only hitting for the cycle, but turning in batting numbers of 11-of-20 overall across five games, along with extending his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 23 games.

However, early returns on All-Star voting indicate he's on the outside looking in, ranking 14th among outfielders and with 34 National League players garnering more votes than him.

Swanson told SportsBoom that the All-Star voting system is a bit flawed due to a lot of the voting taking place before Crow-Armstrong went on a hot streak. 

He also acknowledged that it could have a little to do with the Cubs not dominating as they did last season entering the All-Star break.

"It can have something to do with it at times, right?" said Swanson. 

"When certain teams have certain records or winning games at a certain level, they tend to get a little bit more love or attention, but I don't know. It's not like we're bad, you know what I mean?"

When asked for a player comparison for his All-Star teammate, Swanson said he doesn't have one for Crow-Armstrong and that the 24-year-old star is a "special talent."

"No, I really don't, I'm not a huge comparison person," said Swanson. 

"Because Pete's. He's an elite defender. He's got a lot of special talent offensively, obviously. Can really, really, really run. He can do anything on the baseball field that you ask him. I don't have a comparison, but he's so fun to watch."

When asked what his objectives are for the season, he said it's simply winning and getting into the playoffs. Swanson said winning the World Series in Chicago, which he's won before in Atlanta, would be something truly special.

"I think, just win, man. I feel like winning is seeing the city of Chicago, and really what it was like during the playoffs, you just want to experience that over and over and over again. So I think it's just winning. I know individual stuff,  I've always played my best when at the forefront of my mind, it's just the winning component, just being committed to that, my teammates." 

Swanson is on the verge of completing his 10th full season in the major leagues. 

When asked if he has a target age in mind, the 32-year-old said there is no "plan" and that he'll know when it's time.

"No, I'd be foolish to plan it out," said Swanson. 

"I've tried to plan plenty of things out in my life, and God's always like, 'Nah, I got a different idea for you.' I'm sure that I'll know what I'm supposed to know when I need to keep going or to stop."