Cubs News: Infielder Dansby Swanson confirms 2024 injury suspicions

Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson had an up-and-down year in 2024. While consistently a great fielder, his offense went through some rough patches, especially in the first half of the season when he hit .212/.282/.350 while suffering an ankle injury in April. His struggles seemed to carry over from the end of 2023 when he hit .212/.292/.394 in August and September. It seemed pretty obvious Swanson was ailing at the end of 2023 as well, but he wanted to keep playing regardless. In December, we learned Swanson had core surgery in October for a sports hernia.

Fans and media have worked to piece together the injury timeline for Swanson and associate them with the slumps. Swanson was a guest on 670 the Score's Bernstein and Harris show on Friday prior to Cubs Conventions and confirmed he has been playing hurt for a while now.

"I've probably been playing hurt for the past year and a half, or so. It really started to bother me in 23 and; towards the end of the year and I tried some different rehab things throughout that offseason, it just kept kinda nagging and getting worse throughout all of last season."

Dansby Swanson

Swanson added that after a while it was time to take a "deeper look" into his ailments and that wound up leading to surgery. When asked if he would be all good when baseball resumes, he responded with, "That's the plan." There was never an indication he would miss time, but Swanson still seems to be on track to be good to go.

The timeline Swanson explained all makes sense. It was encouraging to see him hit .281/.352/.443 in the second half, even before the hernia was taken care of via surgery. A healthy Swanson not only gives the Cubs a great fielder but a solid bat that can hit 20 home runs and post a .740-.770 OPS and 100-115 wRC+ in a season. Hopefully, he can play an uninterrupted 2025.