Tim Anderson figures to be a main asset to the next great White Sox team. He fit the typical White Sox draft pick of being more of an athlete than a baseball player. In fact, he grew up playing basketball and led his high school to a state title. The first time he picked up a baseball bat wasn’t until his junior year of high school.
In the minor’s, Tim’s 2 best tools were his hit and speed tools. He also flashed some surprising power, but the biggest concern evaluators had with him was whether he’d be able to man shortstop long term. They were right in assuming it would be a huge learning curve as he registered 48 errors in his first 243 games. That comes out to roughly one error every 5 games. Not good. This year though, things have been much different as he has 15 errors in 131 games. That comes out to one error for every 9 games. That still may not sound too great, but 10 of those 15 errors came before June 1st.
That smooth play on a hard shot by Tim Anderson reminds that of his 15 errors this season, only five have come since June 1.
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) August 12, 2018
If that doesn’t convince you that he’s improving his defense, how about this stat:
Tim Anderson (7.6) is 25th in defensive runs above average out of the whole league. That's not out of just shortstops, it's among ALL defensive positions. #WhiteSox
— James G (@ChiSoxJames) September 4, 2018
Not bad for a guy who’s future at shortstop was in question as recent earlier this year. When asked about his phenomenal play at short as of late, he summed it up about as perfectly as one could.
“I’m feeling more like a shortstop, not an athlete playing shortstop” – Tim anderson
When he is making plays like this almost regularly now, it’s easy to see what he means.
Tim Anderson just turning into a great SS in everyone's face pic.twitter.com/LCOshuiMmq
— Red Line Radio (@RedLineRadio) September 3, 2018
Tim Anderson’s range is off the charts! pic.twitter.com/NiD1ufaZUk
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) August 28, 2018
Tim is playing short more confidently than he ever has. And with the White Sox expected to be good sooner than later, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
