Cubs Shortstop Dansby Swanson on Pace For Abominable Record
The worst qualified hitter by batting average in the Chicago Cubs‘ long history is Ivan De Jesus.
The shortstop was never a fine hitter. But in the strike-shortened 1981 season, De Jesus got off to a slow start and ran out of time to make up ground. He finished the season with a .194 average, easily the lowest of any of his eight full MLB seasons.
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Flash forward to 2016. Dansby Swanson isn’t merely on pace to break De Jesus’ ignominious record. He’s on pace to do so with 587 plate appearances - 127 more than De Jesus, and more than enough to qualify for a batting title.
Swanson’s 0-for-2 performance against the Colorado Rockies on June 16 dropped his batting average for the season to .175. His career-low for a full season is .232, back in 2017 during his first full season with the Atlanta Braves.
Swanson, 32, needs to remain in Craig Counsell’s starting lineup for the rest of the season to break De Jesus’ franchise record. So far, Counsell seems willing to oblige.
Even a .175 batting average through 268 plate appearances - Swanson’s total through June 16 - is rare for a franchise defined by its 108-year drought between World Series championships.
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Not since Jim Canavan in 1892 has a Cub batted as many times in a season as Swanson and finished with a lower batting average. Silver Flint batted .162 in 289 plate appearances in 1880.
Swanson’s season is far from over. He still has time to turn his season around; history suggests he will.
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Yet he also has time to slide further down the all-time MLB batting average record books. The worst batting average by a qualified hitter in American or National League history was the .168 average posted by Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis in 2018.
Coincidentally, San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado has an identical .175 batting average to Swanson through games of June 16.
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Yet Machado entered the Padres’ game against the against the St. Louis Cardinals with seven hits in his last 28 at-bats. The Padres’ hitting coaches have already begun working with him to effectively undo the work he did with independent instructor Richard Schenck last offseason. It seems to be working.
To break a Padres franchise record, one need only eclipse 58 seasons of history. The Cubs are a charter National League franchise, having played continuously under various names since 1876. Swanson is chasing the ghosts of seasons best left in the 19th century.
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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 1:40 PM.