Dansby Swanson Hits the IL With an Oblique Injury, Testing the Cubs' Infield Depth

Dansby Swanson is hitting the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury, which is baseball code for "do not expect to see this man anytime soon." MLB Trade Rumors reported the Chicago Cubs shortstop is getting an MRI on Monday after grabbing his side during an awkward swing-and-miss.

The injury happened in the third inning of an 11-4 blowout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Nico Hoerner immediately slid over to shortstop, which is a luxury most teams do not have, but losing your defensive anchor is still a brutal blow for a club trying to coast into October.

"MLB Trade Rumors reported the injury and upcoming MRI."

Swanson is basically the ironman of modern shortstops. He has played in 955 of a possible 995 games since the start of the 2020 season. Seeing him wince and leave a game is like watching a 1998 Honda Civic fail to start. It just defies the laws of nature.

While his bat has been slightly below league average this year with a .216 average and a 95 wRC+, his glove is the reason the Cubs pay him the big money. He has racked up 16 Outs Above Average and six Defensive Runs Saved. You do not replace that kind of run prevention, you just hope the ground balls find someone else.

Chicago has a comfortable cushion in the National League wild-card race, so there is no need to panic-bet against their playoff odds just yet. They have the Chicago White Sox coming to town next, which is basically a scheduled scrimmage to help Hoerner and James Triantos figure out the new middle infield alignment.

The MRI will tell the real story, but moderate oblique strains usually sideline guys for at least a month. If the imaging shows anything worse, the Cubs will have to navigate the final stretch of the season without the guy who holds their entire infield together.