Craig Counsell’s latest comments send a strong message to frustrated Cubs fans

Dansby Swanson is slashing just .139/.200/.215 with runners in scoring position this season - a brutal performance no matter how you slice it. Chicago Cubs fans have been begging for Craig Counsell to change up the batting order to hopefully reduce the number of at-bats the veteran sees in clutch spots. But the Cubs' skipper isn't changing course just yet.

“It’s an important result in the game,” Counsell told reporters this week in St. Louis. “How we hit with runners in scoring position every night is really important to whether we win or lose. At this point, guys have 80-90 at-bats in that situation. I think we’d all agree that’s not a very big number. But it affects the outcome of the game, so I think we focus on that. I understand that.”

In 91 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, not only has Swanson failed to come up with the timely hits, too often he's not even putting the ball in play, striking out in more than 30 percent of those situations.

With the Cubs' offense lacking the same overpowering consistency it showed in the early-going, fans are desperate to see some sort of change in hopes it will rejuvenate a team whose lead in the National League Central has shrunk to just 2 1/2 games.

Craig Counsell isn't panicking over Dansby Swanson just yet

Counsell points to Swanson's career numbers against lefties and his ability to hit for extra bases as reasons he makes sense in the five-hole, slotting in-between two left-handed hitters in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch. It keeps teams from rolling out left-handed relievers without hesitation in the same way they might if it was a slew of lefties stacked in the middle of the batting order.

On the year, the former Vanderbilt standout is once again in the Gold Glove conversation, although he isn't viewed as the front-runner at this point in the year, and has been above-average at the dish, with a 103 OPS+ and 14 home runs that put him on a pace to threaten his career-high of 27, a mark he reached with the Braves back in 2021.

A potential 20-80 bat who plays elite defense at a critical position is hardly something to turn your nose up at and Counsell and the Cubs are well aware of that fact. He may be aware of Swanson's struggles in clutch spots this year, but isn't wavering in his support. That's not to say a change won't come, but it doesn't sound like it's something the Chicago skipper is losing sleep over.