Tim Anderson

[GreenSox]

So for those who have regularly seen his at bats, is he swinging at everything, or is he just not taking any walks. The good walkers lay-off pitches just outside the zone that are hittable. It's better to lay off than to try to hit them in general, but you can still be productive. Now if he's swinging at balls in the dirt and stuff, then there could be issues.

 

I like Anderson at leadoff because it pushes Eaton down to #2 and Eaton is the best hitter for the 2 hole on this roster. He's also the best hitter for the 1 hole, but I think the 2 hole gap was much greater.

Edited June 27, 2016 by GreenSox

[bmags]

So for those who have regularly seen his at bats, is he swinging at everything, or is he just not taking any walks. The good walkers lay-off pitches just outside the zone that are hittable. It's better to lay off than to try to hit them in general, but you can still be productive. Now if he's swinging at balls in the dirt and stuff, then there could be issues.

 

I like Anderson at leadoff because it pushes Eaton down to #2 and Eaton is the best hitter for the 2 hole on this roster. He's also the best hitter for the 1 hole, but I think the 2 hole gap was much greater.

 

I've seen him layoff some pretty wicked breaking stuff. He was completely fooled by the knuckleball last week, however.

 

It's more that if he's getting a fastball in the zone, he's swinging at it.

 

He has been prone to high fastballs though. he has a bat that can take a few of em but hopefully that's one he can learn to layoff of.

[RockRaines]

He isnt going to walk much, period. His bat speed is enough that with the low walks he should be able to have pretty good plate coverage. Ideally I think he will hit lower in the order on a good team.

[OmarComing25]

He's definitely exceeded expectations for me so far, but those plate discipline numbers are pretty scary. 32% strikeout rate and no walks? That 45% O-Swing percentage combined with just a 60% Z-Swing percentage looks pretty scary too. Still way early though, and I think he has what it takes to adjust. I don't mind the aggressive approach as long as he's swinging at strikes too, but he's been below-average in that. Hopefully that will come with time. Defense is the most important thing out of your SS though, so the fact that he's played well there is extremely encouraging. I say B+.

Edited June 27, 2016 by OmarComing25

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

I wasn't expecting him to hit it out of the ballpark as often as he has so far, but it's such a tiny sample size yet. Like many, I've gotten into the habit of assuming that if it's wearing a Sox jersey and holding a bat, it probably couldn't hurt a fly.

 

I'm not sold he can do it long term unless his walk rate starts going up gradually every month. He's gonna start getting junkballed soon.

Yeah, that's coming and it worries me.

[southsider2k5]

I've seen him layoff some pretty wicked breaking stuff. He was completely fooled by the knuckleball last week, however.

 

It's more that if he's getting a fastball in the zone, he's swinging at it.

 

He has been prone to high fastballs though. he has a bat that can take a few of em but hopefully that's one he can learn to layoff of.

 

With the way he swings, he will always have problems with the letter high fastball and above.

[lasttriptotulsa]

So for those who have regularly seen his at bats, is he swinging at everything, or is he just not taking any walks. The good walkers lay-off pitches just outside the zone that are hittable. It's better to lay off than to try to hit them in general, but you can still be productive. Now if he's swinging at balls in the dirt and stuff, then there could be issues.

 

I like Anderson at leadoff because it pushes Eaton down to #2 and Eaton is the best hitter for the 2 hole on this roster. He's also the best hitter for the 1 hole, but I think the 2 hole gap was much greater.

 

From the at bats I've seen, he seems to lay off some good breaking balls early in the count. Once he gets two strikes on him he struggles to lay off. He's had four at bats go to three ball counts and in two of those he struck out on pitches well out of the zone. I think with more repetition he will be fine. He'll probably never have a great walk rate but even if he can get to 5-6% he should be able to manage a .330-.340 OBP because I think he'll be close to a .300 hitter.

[OmarComing25]

I'm more concerned with the strikeouts than the walks. I'd be happy with a 3-4% walk rate if he can play good defense and hit for moderate power. He's a guy who can likely sustain a high BABIP (.340-.350 range), so if he can get his K-rate down near 20% then he could be great.

[bmags]

I'm more concerned with the strikeouts than the walks. I'd be happy with a 3-4% walk rate if he can play good defense and hit for moderate power. He's a guy who can likely sustain a high BABIP (.340-.350 range), so if he can get his K-rate down near 20% then he could be great.

 

It is hard to know how much to worry when he has shown these same issues in first month in previous stops.

 

If I was playing armchair psychoanalyst, I think he takes some time to figure out what he can hit (a lot) and what he can't, and then he adjusts. But until he tries to swing at everything, he probably assumes he can hit it.

[NCsoxfan]

in fairness to the Beckham comparison, I think Anderson has a much quicker swing, livelier bat, etc than Gordon did.

[chitownsportsfan]

in fairness to the Beckham comparison, I think Anderson has a much quicker swing, livelier bat, etc than Gordon did.

 

TA is a fast twitch athlete and that informs everything he does on the field. From his bat speed to his defense. He can get around on balls Gordon could only dream off and ditto with his range. Gordon was essentially an average athlete by MLB standards, TA is an outstanding one.

 

TA has a lot of developing left to do but I don't see any reason to think his floor isn't decent starter. Unlike many guys the Sox draft there's enough raw athleticism that translates to production, including in his swing and the way he can clear his hips and get his hands on top of the ball, to think as long as he's healthy he'll always have a shot to hit 300 with 20 HR.

 

I'm impressed. His bat speed continues to play at every level. Kid knows how to make hard contact.

Edited June 27, 2016 by chitownsportsfan

[Jake]

So for those who have regularly seen his at bats, is he swinging at everything, or is he just not taking any walks. The good walkers lay-off pitches just outside the zone that are hittable. It's better to lay off than to try to hit them in general, but you can still be productive. Now if he's swinging at balls in the dirt and stuff, then there could be issues.

 

I like Anderson at leadoff because it pushes Eaton down to #2 and Eaton is the best hitter for the 2 hole on this roster. He's also the best hitter for the 1 hole, but I think the 2 hole gap was much greater.

 

I've seen several instances where he has seemed able to recognize pitch type on the fly and adjust. I remember back when I played, I'd sometimes get so tuned into ID'ing the pitch that I didn't take the next step and think hard about the location. My opinion is that he shows some real aptitude up there and has upside as a guy who isn't an extreme low-walk player like someone like Alexei was much of his career. He may or may not get his Ks down to a below average level, but he has enough contact skills that I expect it to get much more manageable as he improves. He's had a pretty consistent pattern in the minors of high Ks and low/no BBs early, with both of those numbers improving steadily as he stays at that level.

[ptatc]

73 at bats without a walk.

He rarely drew walks in the minors. I don't know why people are hoping it will change in the MLB.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

He rarely drew walks in the minors. I don't know why people are hoping it will change in the MLB.

No kidding. Maybe he'll develop more of that as he matures. The main thing is that bat is lively and will be a damn good one. His defense has been fine so there really hasn't been any drop off at the SS position.

[caulfield12]

I think any team could live with a 725-750 OPSing SS with his athleticism and solid/above-average fielding.

 

With Machado, Correa and Lindor, he won't be making many All-Star teams at SS. And expecting 20 homer seasons would be a bit presumptuous. I'd prefer to think of him as a consistent 12-15 homer per season guy that might put up 18-20 once in his career, when he's older and gains some more weight and slows down a bit.

 

The comp I keep coming back to is Ray Durham. Similar speed, Anderson is the superior defender at the more important position on the infield. You'll see a sprinkling of xb hits (especially triples on the road)....and it would be VERY helpful if his stolen base technique could be refined to where he's putting up 30-40 (50 seems a bit high in this current age of baseball, not to mention the wear and tear consequences) steals per season. That's a consistent 3-4 WAR SS. Without the walks and depressed OBP/OPS resulting from that, he's not going to be a 4-6 WAR player, but you just never know.

[Dizzy Sox]

He rarely drew walks in the minors. I don't know why people are hoping it will change in the MLB.

 

FWIW, look at Anderson's walks month-by-month in the minors over the last two years. In both instances he goes from none/very little walks to, well, not a lot but at least some:

A M J J A

2016 0 8

2015 1 4 5 6 8

 

Hopefully we will see the same progression in the majors...otherwise he's going to be limiting himself to a bottom third of the order profile.

 

[Boopa1219]

I think it's way too early to have this conversation but I'm excited by Tim Anderson and what he can do on the field. Hopefully he can be that face of the franchise player that I feel the franchise needs to pair with Chris Sale, and having a African American player fill that role on the south side of Chicago, would be good for the team.

[ptatc]

FWIW, look at Anderson's walks month-by-month in the minors over the last two years. In both instances he goes from none/very little walks to, well, not a lot but at least some:

A M J J A

2016 0 8

2015 1 4 5 6 8

 

Hopefully we will see the same progression in the majors...otherwise he's going to be limiting himself to a bottom third of the order profile.

He will get a few. However, he won't get to a point where posters won't comment or complain about it. He will never be in the "acceptable" range for walks. I think he will be a better than average hitter when people look at the body of work.

[caulfield12]

20-25 years ago, nobody (well, only Bill James) was talking about walk rates and OBP.

[chitownsportsfan]

The comp I keep coming back to is Ray Durham.

 

Not even close to comparable in anything but potential WAR impact. Most of Durham's value came from his patience.

 

20-25 years ago, nobody (well, only Bill James) was talking about walk rates and OBP.

 

Not sure about you but Franks' ridiculous OBP was always a conversation point when he was being talked about as one of the best batter's eyes ever along with Ted Williams.

[caulfield12]

31 walks in 471 plate appearances his rookie season is hardly Moneyball. 6.6%. Obviously, he picked it up after that, but I was thinking back to my impression of when he first came up with the Sox in 1995.

 

In the minors, 168 walks in 1568 at-bats. 10.7%

 

11.1% walk rate over his entire major league career.

 

 

Fine, in every aspect of their games (besides walk rate), they have similarities. Anderson has a better arm. The one area that Ray was excellent at defensively was going into shallow OF or into foul territory for those basket catches....he had huge range on those balls, but not as much on the infield/laterally.

 

 

[RockRaines]

He has an incredibly quick bat, so he can get to alot of balls all over the plate. Thats going to help him a bit.

[chitownsportsfan]

31 walks in 471 plate appearances his rookie season is hardly Moneyball. 6.6%. Obviously, he picked it up after that, but I was thinking back to my impression of when he first came up with the Sox in 1995.

 

In the minors, 168 walks in 1568 at-bats. 10.7%

 

11.1% walk rate over his entire major league career.

 

 

Fine, in every aspect of their games (besides walk rate), they have similarities. Anderson has a better arm. The one area that Ray was excellent at defensively was going into shallow OF or into foul territory for those basket catches....he had huge range on those balls, but not as much on the infield/laterally.

 

If you want to compare Anderson to another AA former Sox Lance Johnson is a much better comp. Great hit tool, tall rangy athlete, not much patience, decent amount of pop, not a great natural base stealer despite the speed.

Edited June 27, 2016 by chitownsportsfan

[chitownsportsfan]

He has an incredibly quick bat, so he can get to alot of balls all over the plate. Thats going to help him a bit.

 

Yep. Need to avoid the dreaded "core injury" during his career because he relies on his bat speed to generate almost all his offensive value.

[BlackSox13]

I thought calling Anderson up was a bit early but I'm not complaining about the results so far. Tim has been a great spark at the top of the order and it looks like the Sox made the right call. Tim has been a breath of fresh air.