Exclusive: Veteran Shortstop Dansby Swanson Breaks Down Chicago Cubs’ Postseason Path

Dansby Swanson knows what it takes to win a World Series.

The two-time All-Star shortstop won a World Series as a member of his hometown Atlanta Braves in 2021. The 27-year-old played a key role on the team, hitting 27 home runs to along with 88 RBI's while appearing in 160 of the 162 regular season games.

A Champion’s Pedigree

Swanson, who has now been a member of the Chicago Cubs since 2023, is looking to lead the franchise to its first postseason appearance since 2020. 

Entering Friday's series against their crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox, the Cubs are 60-42 and have the National League's second-best record. They're only a half-game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central lead.

The Georgia native says it would be pretty cool to lead the Cubs to just their second World Series title since 1909, but knows it's a long season. Swanson says it's about "who can get hot" at the right time.

"It might be the hardest thing there is to do in sports, just because they're the way the series work, and it's about who can get hot at the right time," Swanson told SportsBoom.com in a one-on-one interview. 

"There's just so many things that end up going your way. Every pitch is so meaningful and sometimes the ball just bounces your way."

Swanson grew up a Braves fans and often went to games at Turner Field. He says the 2021 Braves started playing their best baseball "at the right time." 

Atlanta actually had the fifth-best record in the National League during that series, but managed to win it all after defeating the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, who had already won a World Series at that point.

The October Mindset

The veteran shortstop says that the Cubs feel they're in a good place to "do something special."

"In that season, I feel like we started playing our best ball at the right time," says Swanson. 

"There was a strong belief system within the group. I feel like right now with where we're at in Chicago, we feel that we're in a good place to do something special. We feel like the rest of the season is going to be a lot of fun, and we're gonna have a good chance to do something pretty cool in October."

The Cubs are a pretty powerful team when it comes to hitting. Swanson, who is one of the best-hitting shortstops in the game, ranks fifth on the team in home runs and sixth in RBI's. Chicago was represented by two of their batters in the 2025 All-Star Game, Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Arms Race Ahead of the Deadline

Chicago ranks near the top of the majors in most categories, ranking in the top five in batting average, hits, home runs and runs per game. However, they could use a little boost in pitching, ranking 13th in ERA and 27th in strikeouts per nine innings. 

Swanson says every team in the majors is looking for "pitching help," especially as the trade deadline nears at the end of the month. He says that's one of the biggest keys in making a World Series run.

"I think the answer is the same for probably 99% of teams which is you can never have enough pitching help," says Swanson. 

"You just never know what's going to happen, and the more amount of arms that you have, the better off things are going to be. We've done such a great job this year, our bullpen has been so good for us. But at the same time, you just never know, and it's a luxury to have more arms than you need."

The Cubs shortstop is well aware that the other contenders in the MLB will be aggressive at the deadline as they look to stock up for a potential World Series run.

"Like I said, you can never have enough," says Swanson. 

"You can't predict the future, so you don't know what's going to happen. But you always want to be prepared for any and all types of scenarios."