The VandySports 100: No. 2, Dansby Swanson

Vanderbilt baseball great Dansby Swanson makes the VandySports 100 at No. 2. Here is the full list of our top 100.

WARNING: There's some explicit language in the highlight video near the end of the piece.

Honors and awards: 2014 second-team All-American (Perfect Game; third team by ABCA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball)

2014 All-College World Series team

2014 College World Series MVP

2014 first-team All-Southeastern Conference

2014 All-SEC defensive team

2014 All-Nashville Regional

2015 National Player of the Year (Perfect Game, D1 Baseball)

2015 Golden Spikes Award finalist

2015 Brooks Wallace Award

2015 Rawlings Gold Bat Award

2015 first-team All-American (ABCA, Baseball America, D1, NCBWA, Perfect Game)

2015 All-Nashville Regional

2015 second-team All-SEC

2015 All-SEC Tournament

In the VU record book: Single-season at-bats: fifth and sixth (282 in 2014, 201 in 2015)

Single-season doubles: first and fifth (27 in 2014, 24 in 2015)

Single-season triples: tied-fourth (six in 2015)

Single-season runs scored: third (76 in 2015)

Career doubles: 10th (52)

Before VU: Lettered three years in each of baseball and basketball at Georgia's Marietta High. Captained the hoops team his final two seasons. Ranked third on the school's career list with 171 3-pointers made. Taken in Round 38 by Colorado.

Freshman (2013): A shoulder injury ended Swanson's year prematurely; he played in only 11 games (four starts) for a 54-12 (26-3 SEC) team. Fielded .941 in 34 chances and took part in five double plays. Played three SEC games, and drew a walk in four plate appearances. Went 1-for-2 with two runs and a steal in a start vs. Central Arkansas.

Sophomore (2014): Played in all 72 games, starting 71, as the primary second baseman for a 51-21 (17-13) team that won the national title. Fielded .971 in 343 chances, with 10 errors and 44 double plays. Started all 30 SEC games, and hit .333/410/.482, with two homers, 20 RBIs and 22 runs scored. Hit .286/.444/.393 in the NCAA Tournament and was named College World Series MVP. Did not make an error in the College World Series (seven games), though he made four between the regional and super regional. Was 5-for-13 with a walk and two RBIs in the UIC series. Reached base four times in five tries in a win over MTSU. Was 6-for-12 with three doubles, a homer, a walk and an RBI in the Winthrop series. Reached base seven times in 14 tries in the LSU series, adding two doubles and two RBIs. Was 7-for-12 with three RBIs, a walk and five runs scored in the Kentucky series. Was 5-for-12 with two RBIs in the Texas A&M series. Was 6-for-13 with a walk and four RBIs in VU's three-game sweep of Georgia.

Junior (2015): Played in 71 games (starting them all at short) for a 51-21 (20-10) team that finished as the national runner-up. Fielded .974 in 304 chances, with eight errors and 185 assists. Fielded .974 in 304 chances, with eight errors and 44 double plays. Started all 30 SEC games, hitting .310/.417/.560, with five homers, 26 RBIs and 31 runs scored. Hit .250/.300/.455 in the NCAA Tournament and made just one error. Hit a key two-run, tie-breaking homer in the ninth of the Nashville Regional vs. Indiana, and turned in a spectacular defensive play the half-inning before. Hit .381/.435/.1.048 in the SEC Tournament with four home runs, leading VU to a runner-up finish in that event. Was 6-for-14 with two walks and two doubles and two RBIs in the season-opening Santa Clara series. Was 6-for-13 with a walk and four RBIs in the Illinois State series. Was 5-for-13 with a walk and an RBI in the series at Dodger Stadium (UCLA, Souther Cal, TCU). Was 5-for-8 with a double, a triple and two RBIs in back-to-back mid-week games with Wofford. Was 5-for-11 with three walks and three RBIs in the Kentucky series.

Post-VU: Arizona took Swanson first overall in the 2015 MLB Draft, then, traded him to Atlanta that December in the infamous Shelby Miller swap. Swanson has had an average career in Atlanta as the Braves' regular shortstop the last three years, and enters 2020 as the team's starter after turning 26 on Feb. 11.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: The long list of guys I considered for No. 1 was probably eight players, but that was quickly whittled to a three-man list that included Swanson, Carson Fulmer and Austin Martin. At various times, I had each at No. 1.

The case for Swanson:

- Swanson was the best every-day player on both the 2014 and 2015 teams. A lot of his value comes at defense, where he played two premium positions (second and short) but he was also the best hitter on both teams. Swanson was responsible for "creating" 75.2 of VU's 476 runs in 2015 (4.3 runs more than second-place Rhett Wiseman) and 65.5 of the 403 it scored in 2014 (6.8 more than Bryan Reynolds).

- Swanson was the MVP of the 2014 College World Series.

- National Player of the Year by two media outlets in 2015.

- He was durable, missing just one game in those two seasons.

- He was consistent. Swanson didn't have the hot streaks other Commodores had (he never won a Player of the Week) but balanced that out by avoiding slumps of any significant degree.

So why wasn't Swanson No. 1?

Mostly, that missed 2013 season. That's too bad, because between Games 3-6 that year, Martin had accumulated 12 at-bats and looked as if he were on the verge of winning an every-day job. He returned for brief appearances over three games in the middle of the season.

That prompts a great "what-if" for the 2013 season: What if Swanson had made it as a regular?

I'm not sure what the ultimate ripple effect would have been there; Tony Kemp was SEC Player of the Year at second (where Swanson played in 2014) and Vince Conde and Xavier Turner both turned in respectable seasons at short and third. Swanson had been playing short, but his absence allowed Conde to turn into a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop and gain much-needed confidence that spring-boarded him into a star in 2014.

Even great players struggle as freshman, so there are no guarantees. On the other hand, Swanson was the most talented player of the bunch--enough that he'd become the No. 1 overall pick two seasons later--and I have to think he'd probably have risen to the top and grabbed a job somewhere.

What would it have meant?

Well, Swanson wasn't going to improve VU on a 26-3 SEC regular-season, probably. But at the end of the year, when the team ran out of gas against Louisville, would an every-day Swanson been the difference in propelling VU into Omaha and maybe winning it all there? We'll never know.

And speaking of what-ifs, it would have been fascinating to see Swanson and Martin each go three full seasons. Who'd have emerged with the better career?

I had not decided until publication whether to rank Swanson or Fulmer first. Ultimately, Fulmer's three-year body of work--no doubt helped by the fact that Fulmer didn't miss most of his freshman year--was stronger. But Swanson was great enough that he had to be considered, and I don't think that's something most would debate.