Dansby drives Cubs' comeback thanks to this 'lost art'

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- As soon as Dansby Swanson reached third base, the veteran Cubs shortstop looked quickly to his left to find the baseball. He saw Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe scrambling off the bag in pursuit of an errant throw.

It was a key eighth-inning moment in the Cubs’ 7-6 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field, and one of two heads-up baserunning decisions by Swanson that proved crucial to the win. He hustled home, sliding across the plate headfirst and then popping to his feet with a howl and an emphatic kick of the air as the crowd roared.

“Dansby’s just an incredible athlete,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “He’s got a lot of baseball savvy. He’s a good ballplayer. He knows the game. He’s got great feel. Not super surprised.”

That play by Swanson began with him standing on first base with Michael Busch pinch-hitting and the Cubs trailing the Pirates, 6-4. With two outs, Busch slashed a pitch from Justin Lawrence into left field to easily score Seiya Suzuki from second base. Swanson trailed Suzuki to third before scanning the field.

Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds fired the ball in, but wildly beyond Lowe’s reach. That gave Swanson his opening.

“Had a funny saying in Spring Training,” Swanson quipped after the win. “I always said, ‘If you need the base coaches to tell you what to do, you stink at baserunning.’ My whole life, it was just being taught to run with your eyes up, run with your eyes on the ball.”

That run pulled the game into a 6-6 tie and paved the way for Carson Kelly’s walk-off single in the ninth. Going back an inning earlier, Swanson’s alert running in the seventh also led to a critical run in Chicago’s comeback.

With one out and the bases loaded, Alex Bregman skied a pitch from Hunter Barco high over Lowe, who tracked it into shallow right field. With Wrigley’s wind blowing hard out to right, the second baseman tumbled to the grass while making the grab. It was deemed an out via the infield-fly rule, but Swanson said he was ready for a catch or Lowe dropping the ball. He tagged up and scored with ease.

“Baserunning, we talk about it all the time,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “There’s risk involved, right? And you’ve got to take the right chances, and you want to take the right chances. … On the sac fly, he understands the conditions here and that no pop fly is routine. And a guy gets on his heels and falls over because he’s trying to make the play and it’s a run. That’s everything. That’s everything.”

Heading into Sunday’s action, the Cubs ranked third in the Majors as a team with 2.1 baserunning runs above average, trailing only the Marlins (4.1) and the Brewers (3.2). Running the bases -- beyond just steals -- was also a strength for Chicago in 2025, when the team ranked third in MLB with 11.0 BsR.

“If you want to find a way to win a game at Wrigley Field, things can get weird,” Taillon said. “That’s hopefully something we take advantage of. A fielder goes to the ground, trying to stay with a pretty high popup, and Dansby just has the feel to tag up and score. I thought we were really good at home last year and I think we can use this place as an advantage. That’s just an example of it.”

Swanson also thinks baserunning is an area the Cubs can continue to excel this season.

“I think it’s kind of a lost art in our game,” Swanson said. “When you do the fundamentals well, it allows for instincts to show up because you are so consistent. You practice any and all scenarios, and that’s the fun part. Baserunning is probably the most fun part of playing, other than winning. Today, we were able to do both.”