Dansby Swanson Biography

James Dansby Swanson, born on February 11, 1994, is an American professional baseball player who has competed as a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves before joining the Chicago Cubs. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him first overall in the 2015 MLB draft following his collegiate career. Before the draft, the Colorado Rockies selected him in the 38th round of the 2012 MLB draft, but he chose not to sign and instead played college baseball at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt won its first national championship during the 2014 season, and Swanson was honored as the College World Series Most Outstanding Player. After the 2015 season, he left college to begin his professional baseball career with the Diamondbacks. In 2020, he achieved a career-high batting average of .274 and ranked third in MLB with 49 runs scored.