Dansby Swanson confirms he is is still one of the Chicago Cubs' weaknesses

The health of Dansby Swanson is one of the key components to the Chicago Cubs' success during the 2025 season.

It may seem strange to follow up that sentence with this next one, but the key to Swanson's health is days off. Or, in the case of last season, knowing when his injury is costing the team.

Swanson suffered what was believed to be a knee injury during a series against the Houston Astros in April of last season and instead going on the IL, the former All-Star shortstop attempted to play through the injury. The result was Swanson slashing .206/.273/.342/74wRC+ between April 23 through July 14 last season.

Swanson posted a 124wRC+ during the second half of the 2024 season, alleviating concerns that his first-half struggles were due to a potential regression. The lesson that should Swanson and the Cubs should have learned is that the shortstop needs to be taken off his feet when he is impacting the team in a negative way.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Swanson has learned that lesson.

“Baseball is meant to be played every day,” Swanson said. “I was kind of raised in the game that way, and that’s not going to change.”

Resting Dansby Swanson shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing

Sure, as a kid, summers are defined by playing baseball every day. That is before we are able to listen to our bodies. One thing that has proven to be true for the Cubs and Swanson is that his preference to play every game has backfired. Last season, Swanson's injury only added to the Cubs' offensive struggles. In 2023, Swanson ran out of gas during September, which resulted in his offensive numbers fading.

That is why there was hope last week when Craig Counsell revealed one of the goals for Nico Hoerner in 2025 is to have him play more shortstop.

Yes, the Cubs are better team with a healthy Swanson and Hoerner in their lineup. But, the Cubs are an even better team when a healthy Swanson is able to make difference in September when the team is presumably angling for a postseason spot.