Dansby Swanson and Mallory Pugh are having a literal banner year

Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson and USWNT/Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh have been enjoying the year of their lives and sports careers.

The New York Mets were considered to have all but claimed the NL, but the Atlanta Braves are hot on their tail as they close the gap this July.

The 58-35 Mets reign supreme for now, but the 56-38 Braves, who are the reigning World Series champions, could easily flip the script. And Dansby Swanson deserves some credit for steering the narrative towards the possibility of a back-to-back MLB championship.

The Braves shortstop will be playing in his first All-Star Game of his six-year MLB career, all while contesting for NL MVP, contending with Juan Soto and former teammate Freddie Freeman. As of July 6, Forbes’ Tony Blengino had Swanson running away with the title. And as Sportskeeda’s Adrian Dorney pointed out earlier this summer, baseball’s “hottest man alive” was an integral part of last year’s championship run, appearing in “a league-most 160 games in 2021, meaning he sat out only two games all year.”

What makes the Dansby Swanson news even better is knowing that his fiancée, USWNT/Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh, has spent the past year winning on the world stage, too. As Swanson heads to Los Angeles for the All-Star Game, Pugh is in Monterrey, Mexico, celebrating winning the Concacaf W Championship Final against Canada 1-0.

In a recent interview with FanSided, Pugh opened up about how 2021 became her “favorite year” of her soccer career — and her favorite year for another reason, too.

https://twitter.com/FanSided/status/1549451754001104897?s=20&t=QLPrAcsOi4GQ8mY3HoPaRQ

"“So obviously, I didn’t make the Olympic roster,” Pugh said. “I was dealing with injuries, and timing and stuff just wasn’t good. I wasn’t playing well. But I think that adversity — it was like adversity that I needed to help me kind of find my game and get back to what I love and me as a person and everything, so I think it was, I just saw a lot of growth last year, both on and off the field. So yeah, I think that’s probably why it was my favorite year.”"

When Pugh is congratulated on her engagement to Swanson, which took place in December 2021, she laughed and said, “Oh, thank you! Oh yeah, and that.”

Dansby Swanson and Mallory Pugh are having a literal banner year after December engagement

Counting back from last July, this has been quite the year for this elite cross-sports couple.

Of course, the Braves won the World Series, reaching the pinnacle of MLB success. This June, Swanson signed a $10 million contract to play out the 2022 season in Atlanta, all while putting up numbers that make him one of the most coveted shortstops in the game.

After Pugh was left off the Tokyo 2020 Olympic roster due to injury, she bounced back, noting mental healthcare as a key part of her recovery from injury.

"“I’ve just seen a lot of growth with that. And I think that I honestly don’t think I would be here where I am today if I didn’t have that. So I am a huge advocate for mental health and seeing whoever you need to see. Especially with everything going on right now. I feel like the world is spinning in a different way. So I think that yeah, definitely, seeking out help and getting help in working through it is very, very important.”"

Now Pugh is back stronger than ever, evidenced by her being named to the USWNT roster (which is essentially an All-Star team of the NWSL) and being an integral part in their Concacaf W victory. With that, the USWNT has solidified a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

If Swanson and the Braves can win another World Series, and Swanson wins the NL MVP race, the happy couple will be on top of the world, both in their respective athletic careers and as an overjoyed, twenty-something couple.