Cubs SS Dansby Swanson’s injury timeline suggests return is near

The Chicago Cubs are gearing up to protect their spot in the Wild Card race. While they still have a chance to chance to chase the Milwaukee Brewers for control of the NL Central, they should be looking to maintain their spot as the three teams in the Wild Card round. Chicago has gone through a big part of this season without one of their key players in Dansby Swanson.

Now, it seems like Swanson is gearing up for a comeback really soon. Meg Montemurro reports that Swanson is set to get some machine work in when the Cubs return from their road trip. This looks like a good indicator that the shortstop will be returning in the near-future, especially once he gets a rehab assignment in the minors.

“Dansby Swanson (oblique) is on track to get work in off the Trajekt and other machine work when Cubs return home this weekend, Counsell said,” Montemurro reported. “That would set up Swanson to get some sort of game action, potentially with Triple-A Iowa or in Arizona, at the beginning of next week.”

Jesse Rogers also notes that Swanson will likely be back in time to face his former team, the Atlanta Braves. It’s a welcome development for the Cubs: Swanson has missed the last two weeks due to an oblique injury he suffered against the St. Louis Cardinals. Nico Hoerner has taken over the shortstop role in the interim, and he’s expected to move back to second base upon Swanson’s return.

Swanson is batting just .213 this season with a slightly below-average OPS. However, that number is severely dragged down by a brutal stretch in May, where he hit just .155. In the month of August, the Cubs shortstop recorded a .233 batting average, hitting two home runs and posting an OPS of .795 before going down with his oblique injury. With just a few weeks left before the end of the regular season, Chicago wants Swanson to return and get some regular-season reps in before diving into the postseason.

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