Dansby Swanson is still dealing with some soreness in his heel and will likely require a brief rehab stint in the minors before he is ready to return. Braves manager Brian Snitker told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman on Saturday that the longer Swanson is out, the better the chance that he will need to play in a Minor League rehab game.
“The longer we wait, he’s probably going to have to test it out in a game before we put him out there just to make sure,” Snitker said.
The Braves had originally hoped that Swanson would be ready to return in time for Saturday’s game which was the first day he was eligible to be activated. However, with soreness continuing to linger in the heel, Atlanta is rightfully playing it safe.
Swanson has enjoyed a breakout season offensively hitting .265/.330/.468 with a career-best 17 home runs. He had struggled since the All-Star break hitting just .227/.333/.273 with no homers in 11 games before going on the injured list. Johan Camargo has seen all of the playing time at shortstop in Swanson’s absence.