Dansby Swanson has turned the corner after a season-opening slump.
The Chicago Cubs shortstop has delivered at the plate in May, with a batting line of .373/.450/.706. His 19 hits in 51 at-bats, 10 RBIs, five home runs and 13 runs are all near or more than he put up in 96 at-bats over 24 games in April.
He and his team will look for that surge to continue when the Cubs go for a three-game sweep against the visiting Chicago White Sox in the finale of the rivalry series on Sunday afternoon.
Swanson, who went 2-for-3 with three runs and two stolen bases in the Cubs’ 7-3 win on Saturday, has been hitless in just three of his team’s 15 games this month, but he has reached base in each outing.
“Dansby had a great offensive game today,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. ‘‘His at-bats were exceptional. … I thought he had a really, really nice game, one of his better games, even though he’s maybe had some more gaudy numbers. But that was a really nice game by Dansby offensively.”
Last month, he had a batting line of .188/.233/.333, with 18 hits, 11 RBIs and three homers and went hitless in half of the games. Only in two of those hitless games did he draw a walk to get on base.
When he couldn’t get going at the plate, Swanson was strong defensively. Now that he’s gotten into an offensive groove, the Cubs are benefiting from his impact on both sides.
‘‘It’s important to be well-rounded because not every day, especially here (at Wrigley Field), can you hit balls out of the ballpark,” Swanson said. “Not every day are you going to be feeling good or confident with where you are swing-wise or in the batter’s box. So being able to find different ways to help the team win is important.”
Pitcher Colin Rea (3-0, 2.48 ERA) will take to the mound for the Cubs to face the White Sox for only the second time in his career. The right-hander allowed one run on two hits in two innings in his previous appearance, a 10-1 loss on Aug, 21, 2020.
The White Sox head into the finale looking to snap a three-game losing streak. The South Side squad had won each of its previous two series before Saturday’s loss.
“These guys have had their backs up against the wall and taken their lumps and continued to come back the next day with a reset mindset and ready to compete,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “That’s what I like about this group. We’ve seen it time and time again.”
Shortstop Chase Meidroth has been steady since making his major league debut on April 11. The rookie went 3-for-4 Saturday, including his first homer in the majors to lead off the game. He’s hitting .286 and enters Sunday’s game on a five-game hitting streak, going 9-for-20 (.450) in that stretch.
“It was good to get that one off my shoulders a little bit. It felt good,” Meidroth said of his first home run. “Something middle away. Kind of sucked my hands into that fastball up and got enough of it.”
After a rough outing for starter Sean Burke — six runs (five earned) on seven hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings — on Saturday, the White Sox hope for a better result from right-hander Jonathan Cannon (2-4, 3.60 ERA) on Sunday. It’ll be his first career appearance against the Cubs.
–Field Level Media
