<p>NEW YORK – Last week, <b>Dansby Swanson</b> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2026/06/17/cubs-dansby-swanson-bench-batting-average-lineup-jed-hoyer-craig-counsell" >got the blue whale off his back</a>.</p><p>Now, he’s unleashing a whale of hurt on opposing pitchers.</p><p>The Cubs’ shortstop – whose lengthy slump was so deep that team brass was being asked about benching one of their highest paid players – had an absolutely massive day in Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep.</p><p>He homered twice in Game 1, driving in seven runs in a 10-3 win, and picked up three more hits and drove in four more runs in the Cubs’ 10-5 win in Game 2. All told, he’s got seven hits, five extra-base hits, three homers and 15 RBIs in the first three games of the four-game series with the Mets.</p><p>It’s part of a surge that has raised his batting average more than 25 percentage points in a week, from .175 to .202.</p><p>“I was never doubting what I was capable of doing as much as I was wondering when I was going to find that thing that was going to get me back to being myself,” Swanson said after the first game. “Sometimes that’s even more frustrating.