PCA in awe of Swanson's breakout vs. Mets

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

NEW YORK -- Entering the four-game series against the Mets, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson was having a rough first half of the season. He had a slash line of .183/.292/.325.

Three days later, Swanson is living the dream and the Cubs haven’t even played the fourth game yet. In the first three games, Swanson had 15 RBIs, the most by any player in a series against the Mets. Eleven of those RBIs came during the day/night doubleheader on Wednesday at Citi Field.

“He did everything today. It’s really [expletive] cool for me to watch,” teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong told MLB.com.

On top of that, Swanson is also the first MLB player to reach 15 RBIs in a series since 2016, when Danny Espinosa of the Nationals tallied as many against the Reds from June 30-July 3. The eruption at the plate has Swanson over the Mendoza Line for the first time since May 10. He now has a .202 batting average.

Crow-Armstrong is not surprised about Swanson’s recent dominance in the batter’s box. Swanson’s work ethic before games has a lot to do with it.

“Like I said, he is doing the right work,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He has really bought into the process right now. You don’t always see results as immediately like he is right now. But ever since he put his mind to what he has been doing recently, he has just benefitted from that. He is letting his ability play. Many of the starting shortstops would love to have a day like that. He is a special player.”

According to Crow-Armstrong, Swanson’s demeanor never changed after his slow start.

“He has been steady Eddie. He has been the same guy every day, showing up and being there for us,” Crow-Armstrong said.

For most of June, it was Crow-Armstrong carrying the Cubs on his back. Remember, he won NL Player of the Week twice this month while other position players on the team had problems getting on base. Now, Swanson and the rest of the lineup are percolating against the Mets.

After Game 2 of the doubleheader, Swanson wasn’t tooting his own horn; he gave credit to the entire lineup. The bottom four of the order, which included himself, Pedro Ramírez, Nico Hoerner and Carson Kelly, went a combined 10-for-20 with seven RBIs and scored all 10 runs during the nightcap.

“It’s kind of the opposite of what we talked about two or three weeks ago, where it seems like, man, nobody could get on track,” Swanson said “We kind of showed this group is really special -- one through nine. Anybody can hurt you from any spot. The at-bats are consistent. The at-bats are good. It was just a matter of time for things to kind of turn. It’s not common for seven to eight hitters to try and figure it out. That’s what it seems like what happened to us. Obviously, those things are starting to turn around. It’s going to be important.”