Tonight, I am going to give a little insight into the guy most mock drafts have slotted into the first overall pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Dansby Swanson. The shortstop for the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SEC is in his first season as a shortstop. Until this season, he was a second baseman. This kid is a very good player. There are few holes in his game.
The thing that sticks out most when I watch his video is how fluid he is both in the field and at the plate. He has some of the best proprioceptive ability of anyone I have seen in the draft in years. He reminds me very much of Christian Yelich in the box. Often, he will look like he is barely swinging the stick, but make clean, solid, and strong contact. He has tons of gap to gap power.
At 6’1″ and 190 pounds, he plays stronger than he looks. When you look at Dillon Tate and Alex Bregman, you can see the musculature. When you look at Swanson, you see a slim, fit guy who could add some muscle in the coming years. This bodes well, because he already has a low impact swing with a very small stride.
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In comparison to Bregman and Rodgers, the other top shortstops in this year’s draft, he is the best fielder. This is a bit of a surprise and seems the Commodores inadvertently hid him at second base. I can only use this word so many times – fluid. Swanson is so fluid. He may not have the range of Manny Machado and Andrelton Simmons at age 21, but his hands are soft and he has next to zero wasted movement.
If I were to project him, I would say he sticks at shortstop in the majors and can show mid-teen power with the occasional 20-homer season with a better than average on-base percentage. It’s very easy to see why he is the guy most mock drafts have in the number one spot. He wouldn’t be far away from the majors and there have been no reports of him not signing as he is described as being a humble guy who just wants to play ball. Both great qualities.
In all, there is very little not to like about Swanson. I can’t find anything in his game to make me think he isn’t as close to a lock to produce better than league average in the majors. As you’ve seen me write about mitigating risk, you know I take stock in a players potential floor as well as his ceiling. I see Swanson’s floor as being as high as anyone’s. If he is the selection, I believe he will be a good one.
Don’t forget to check the rest of our Diamondbacks and MLB draft coverage from the Venom Strikes team! See you tomorrow with another 1st pick hopeful.