Dansby Swanson’s Historic RBI Surge Has Cubs Shortstop Chasing MLB Legends

Dansby Swanson has gone from one of baseball’s most frustrating hitters to arguably its hottest in a matter of weeks, and the numbers behind the turnaround are the kind that get compared to Hall of Famers. The Chicago Cubs shortstop has driven in runs at a pace that ties the best 10-game stretches in MLB history from names like Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, all while helping Chicago stay squarely in the thick of the National League Central race.

Swanson signed a seven-year, $177 million contract with the Cubs before the 2023 season after winning a World Series with his hometown Atlanta Braves in 2021 and collecting All-Star and Gold Glove honors the following two years. This season started as anything but a validation of that price tag — Swanson was hitting as low as .183 as late as June 20, mired in a brutal stretch that saw him bat .178 with just three homers and 14 RBI across 48 games dating back to late April. Then everything changed.

A Historic Power Surge

The turnaround began during a series against the New York Mets, when Swanson put together the best four-game stretch by any hitter in Cubs franchise history, driving in 15 runs over three games — the most by a shortstop in a span that short since Nomar Garciaparra in 1999. It carried into a doubleheader sweep in which he drove in 11 runs, breaking a franchise record set by Hall of Famer Ron Santo in 1970. The surge reached its peak on July 1 against the San Diego Padres, when Swanson hit three home runs, including a grand slam, and finished with a career-high eight RBI as the Cubs pounded San Diego 23-3 at Wrigley Field. It was the most RBI by a Cubs player since Sammy Sosa in 2002 and marked the first time since 1900 that a Cubs shortstop had put together back-to-back multi-homer games. Over that 10-game stretch, Swanson piled up 26 RBI — tied for the fourth-best 10-game run in major league history, alongside Mel Ott, and behind only Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

The power binge has pulled Swanson’s season line up considerably from where it stood in June. He’s now sitting around a .216 average with 16 home runs and 61 RBI, numbers that looked unthinkable when he was scuffling below .200 in the spring. Fans tracking odds on the Cubs’ postseason push can check the latest live MLB odds as Chicago continues to navigate a crowded NL Central chase.

A Milestone Off the Field

The hot streak arrived around the same time as a personal milestone. In late July, Swanson officially reached 10 years of MLB service time, a threshold that locks in a maximum vested pension and lifetime health coverage. The Cubs marked the occasion on social media just before a series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Swanson responded with a heartfelt Instagram post reflecting on his journey — from a “young rookie trying to find his way” to a veteran now “inspiring the next generation of players,” and from winning a World Series with the team he grew up rooting for as a kid to now chasing one with the Cubs. His wife, U.S. women’s national soccer team forward Mallory Pugh, shared the moment on her own Instagram story, calling it “what an accomplishment.”

Swanson is now in his fourth season in Chicago, and while the 10-and-5 trade veto rights that typically accompany a decade of service time require five years with the same club — leaving him one year short of that particular perk — the milestone underscored just how much stability he’s provided at shortstop since leaving Atlanta. He’s logged at least 147 games in each of his four seasons as a Cub, anchoring the infield defensively even during his roughest offensive stretches.

What It Means for the Cubs

Chicago has ridden the wave right along with him. The Cubs have been one of baseball’s best teams over the past several weeks, stacking series wins against the Mets, Padres, Cardinals and Orioles as they’ve climbed to a winning record and remained firmly in the NL Central and wild-card picture. Swanson’s bat, batting from the bottom of the order for much of the surge, has added a dimension the Cubs badly needed as they push for October baseball. If he can sustain even a fraction of this power output through the stretch run, Chicago’s lineup suddenly looks a lot deeper than it did back when Swanson was searching for answers in June.

The bigger question is whether this is a genuine level-up or simply a scorching-hot stretch for a player who has always had swing-and-miss tendencies. Either way, Swanson has reminded the league why the Cubs made him a franchise cornerstone, and with a full decade in the majors now behind him, he’s doing some of the best hitting of his career at an age when many shortstops are already slowing down.