Cubs fans, it appears you may not have to worry about Dansby Swanson after all.
For now, it seems the Cubs avoided an injury scare after Swanson was removed from the 14-9 win over the Mariners on Tuesday before the top of the sixth inning. Initially, the Cubs announced Swanson was taken out with lower left-side tightness, which might allow one’s imagination to run a bit wild. But manager David Ross and Swanson both downplayed the ailment postgame as just some cramping.
Swanson said he’d been up since 4 a.m. Tuesday to go with his wife, Mallory, to have surgery on the torn patella tendon in her left knee. Mallory, a star forward for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, sustained the injury during the USWNT’s 2-0 friendly victory over Ireland on Saturday. She announced on social media later Tuesday that the surgery was successful.
“I’m heartbroken for her,” Swanson said. “Just a lot of tears and sadness. Two things can be true at the same time: It can stink and we can be sad and upset, but we can also understand God’s bigger picture and plans and everything. So, both things can be true. It’s just a sad time, and we’ll get through it together.”
Unfortunately for him, the whole situation meant a few days in which Swanson probably hadn’t “eaten or slept or drank enough water.” After he began the game 4-for-4 with a run and 2 RBIs through five innings of play, he could feel the exhaustion taking its toll.
Swanson did go out to his spot at shortstop and made a warmup toss to Trey Mancini at first base, but he immediately turned and walked toward the dugout. Nico Hoerner then shifted over to short, and Nick Madrigal replaced Hoerner at second base.
“My body was just kind of done for the night,” Swanson said. “I have played a lot in my career, and the last thing I want to do is ever come out of games. I have a little bit of, like, an ego/pride thing with that, but it just didn’t feel smart in the moment. Just kind of trusting my gut.”
Despite the shock of seeing the Cubs’ $177 million shortstop leave the field, neither Ross nor Swanson appeared concerned that it would be a long-term issue.
“We’ll see how he feels [Wednesday],” Ross said, “but the doctors, they’re pretty confident it was just some cramping — which makes some sense with the day he’s had.”
Swanson didn’t want to make any guesses about potentially being in the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale. He’s missed only one regular season game since the start of 2020, so it wouldn’t be a shock if he argued his case to play. But it seems like he’ll trust his skipper to make the best decision.
“Me and Rossy haven’t fully discussed [being back in the lineup Wednesday] yet, so I don’t want to say anything or not saying anything and get in trouble,” Swanson said. “I’ll just leave that up to him.”
