26.0 K%, .666 OPS, .120 ISO, -21.9 UZR/150 ...... time to worry or no?

26.0 K%, .666 OPS, .120 ISO, -21.9 UZR/150 ...... time to worry or no?

After what I've seen from Avi this year, if that is any indication of anything, if anyone is worrying right now about our young 2nd year shortstop in our first rebuilding season, then you're in for a LONG 2017, 2018, and possibly 2019 season.

26.0 K%, .666 OPS, .120 ISO, -21.9 UZR/150 ...... time to worry or no?

 

I'll go ahead and add 16 errors to that list.

His defense is atrocious and not getting any better. He does a lot of things poorly on the field

He just seems to have really slow reflexes IMO, in every part of his game

It's been an ugly year, no doubt about it. That said, still a bunch of upside in that contract. I still think he'll be a league average SS before all is said and done.

He just seems to have really slow reflexes IMO, in every part of his game

 

Hmmmm...not seeing that at all. Concentration and focus on routine plays, he seems to prefer to be moving around flashing his athleticism. The "easy" or routine balls are the ones that vex him...and the inaccuracy of his throws, coupled with a bad 1b who could save him some of those errors.

 

He might be ticketed for CF, he might never walk much...but way too soon to worry. One year from now with no progress, then it's time for a position change to the outfield or second so he can concentrate on his offense.

 

He's also been moved all over the lineup and had a number of personal issues to deal with in the early going.

 

If he completely falls apart, they can move a Leury there or sign Alcides Escobar for a million or two just to win a Gold Glove at SS in 2018 and shore up the infield (would help Moncada as well.)

I would like to see them put him in a spot in the order,(to me 7-9) and leave him there. Let him get in a rhythm and I agree on some defensive lapses I would give him a day off a week but work heavy in the field on fundamentals. He is still very young experience wise. I would try to schedule the work day even so the sub knows and can be more ready.

I wish we could turn him into a catcher. He's got that Sandy Alomar physique (when he was young) and his low batting average could be offset by decent power. I envision Anderson as a free swinging .250 hitter, maybe .245, with a very low on base percentage but decent power. He'd hit .250 with 19 homers and 70 ribbies for many years to come. Could he be moved to catcher? His shortstop skills are not good IMO.

Edited June 22, 20178 yr by greg775

If you think this is fun, wait until both Moncada and Anderson are playing defense together.

I wish we could turn him into a catcher. He's got that Sandy Alomar physique (when he was young) and his low batting average could be offset by decent power. I envision Anderson as a free swinging .250 hitter, maybe .245, with a very low on base percentage but decent power. He'd hit .250 with 19 homers and 70 ribbies for many years to come. Could he be moved to catcher? His shortstop skills are not good IMO.

 

Sounds about like Juan Uribe offensively...he needs to be better than that, unless he plays defense like last year.

Edited June 22, 20178 yr by caulfield12

I'm not a big fan, I thought he was brought up too soon and signed to an extension to soon. I'm not anywhere near 100% bearish, but I really hope Q can bring back a SS prospect that pushes Anderson to the outfield.

Sounds about like Juan Uribe offensively...he needs to be better than that, unless he plays defense like last year.

 

I have no fond memories of his defense last year. The dude didn't know where the 2nd base bag was.

If you think this is fun, wait until both Moncada and Anderson are playing defense together.

I was just reading an article in ESPN the Mag about defense being the big thing nowadays in building winning teams. Some of the people on this board think our front office has a clue. So we're going to have Anderson and Moncada up the middle defensively? That in itself should prevent meaningful postseason runs.

Edited June 22, 20178 yr by greg775

I was just reading an article in ESPN the Mag about defense being the big thing nowadays in building winning teams. Some of the people on this board think our front office has a clue. So we're going to have Anderson and Moncada up the middle defensively? That in itself should prevent meaningful postseason runs.

 

And this years draft was a disappointment in that regard

I wrote this before a few times

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=102439

 

Anderson wasn't really better last year. A little more power but still high K, low BB and mediocre but not terrible power for a MIF. That doesn't really work, last year a huge babip covered up for this but now not anymore.

 

There is still some hope as he is very raw and had a late start but that bat is extremely raw and might never get around. He still can be an OK shortstop but then he at least needs to improve his fielding.

Never been a fan and don't have a ton of hope for him honestly. Yeah I know he's still young and raw or whatever, but we should be seeing at least some improvment to his plate approach and there just isn't. 5 years into a career and not being able to walk at a 4% clip just isn't a good sign to me.

 

Hopefully the D can level out and he can at least be league average though.

In fairness, he was an average SS in AA and AAA but he didn't spend a lot of time there. I could be wrong, but I thought there was speculation on this board that he could get moved to 2nd before he made the ML roster. Unfortunately, Moncada is ticketed for 2nd now so hopefully one of them will eventually end up in the outfield.

The problem is both can play second but there is no replacement for Anderson other than Leury Garcia, possibly...SANCHEZ and Hanson lack the arm strength to play that position on an everyday basis.

Didn't his best friend get murdered earlier this year? That kind of thing can have a serious effect on someone's focus.

He has looked pretty horrible a lot of the time. It's too early to give up on him, but yeah he needs to figure a lot of things out. At the moment he doesn't have what it takes.

I honk this thread is ridiculous. As someone said, you're worried about the team's young shortstop, who didn't start playing baseball till he was 17/18 in the first year of a rebuild?

Despite all his struggles he is still hitting .256, he has a lot to work on but I am not too worried about him yet.

Didn't his best friend get murdered earlier this year? That kind of thing can have a serious effect on someone's focus.

^

TA will never be a Seager/Correa/Lindor cornerstone piece, but he can still be a serviceable SS if he shores up his defense, which he has time to do. His mediocrity does put more pressure on the Sox to develop higher upside players elsewhere though. On a good team, Anderson is batting eighth. Not really a knock on him — still much better than being a bust. It is a little concerning that the Sox have literally zero even moderate-upside shortstop prospects in the system. (Alvarez? Rondon? No one projects to be everyday shortstops in the majors.)