BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 80
CURRENT ADP: ~103 overall
ANALYSIS: Swanson remains an oft-overlooked late bloomer thanks to such a top-heavy shortstop class. We're not crowning him as a Tier One or Two kind of guy, but he's capable of delivering power, speed, and counting stats alongside an average that won't burn. The 27-year-old hasn't had a full season to "wow" us thanks to a handful of injuries and coming up very quickly back in 2016.
He hit .302 through 145 PAs as a 22-year-old rookie, but the next two seasons saw him post averages of .232 and .238 as he found his big-league stroke after just 127 minor-league games prior to his debut. We saw him grow into his frame and pop 14 homers with 10 steals in '18 and further encouraged us with 17 HR/10 SB in '19, but a heel injury tanked the second half of his campaign.
Last year saw him play all 60 games, popping 10 homers with five swipes and a .274/.345/.464 slash line. He enjoyed batting first or second in 33 of those games and will likely slide back in 2021 with Ozzie Albies healthy, but Atlanta should be an offensive juggernaut (even with no DH). When healthy, Swanson has proven himself in two straight years (hard-hit rates above 40% per Baseball Savant in each of those) so enjoy the slight post-hype discount.
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