Last night's Field of Dreams walk-off was the most exciting moment in White Sox play since the World Series run in 2005.  And it was delivered by Tim Anderson, who is the most vocal leader the White Sox have.  

I LOVE Tim Anderson and the energy he brings to the Sox.  I love the work he does outside the game, and how he tries to make the game more exciting. 

BUT ... he's also a bit frustrating to watch as a player because it seems like he's not always there or as focused as he could be.

He went up there in the 9th last night planning to hit the ball out of the ballpark.  He knew the moment, and it focused him to a point where he executed it PERFECTLY.  He was looking for the pitch, he knew what he could do with it, he got it, and he didn't miss it. 

Last year in the playoffs, he was also focused, with three 3-hit games. He wasn't the reason the Sox offense fell short.  

But there are so many at bats where he takes himself out of the play by chasing bad pitches, and then missing balls in the strike zone he should crush.  It just seems like he is very capable of rising to the big moments, but unable to sustain it during more mundane daily ABs.  To me, it all starts with his really bad walk rate.  He needs to be an aggressive hitter to do what he does, but he shouldn't still be chasing the sinkers and sliders that he does.  Yasmani Grandal's patience has rubbed off on other players, with the Sox 4th in baseball in OBP and 6th in walks.  But Tim Anderson is in the bottom 2% of baseball in walk rate.  If Anderson took a lesson from Grandal and made pitchers come to him or take his trot to first, I would think the sky would be the limit for his offense.   I think he can do it, but it would mean he would have to start seeing every AB as having more importance than he seems to at the moment. 

Tim Anderson should be the best shortstop in the AL.  I'm hoping he's inspired by what he did last night to become that player.  

 

if my aunt was my uncle she'd have balls.

Baseball and baseball players are a lot like life… filled with ups and downs.

Anderson is always going to be driven down in value by low walk rates, not having that classic 30-40 homer power and occasional defensive lapses or losses of focus.

He probably equates more to a Lindor type (at least pre 2021), but that’s somewhat scary (even more pressure to keep him in the fold) when you consider he will be 31/32 as his contract ends after 2024…especially for a player who derives considerable value from his speed.

There are so many leaders on this team, but he is THE guy, quite clearly.  Irreplaceable?  We shall find out.

Certainly great for promoting the sport, for connecting with young people, for inspiring athletes in other sports to try baseball…etc.

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by caulfield12

Tim is too shy to be successful. 

This thread is bad.  Tim Anderson is one of the best SS in baseball.  The guy is a batting champion, yet we are going to talk about the ABS he "gives away"?  Tim Anderson is a hitter.  He's never going to be the guy to take pitches. Expecting that from from TA is just not understanding the type of player he is.

I dont think lack of focus is an issue with him. Yoan on the other hand

 

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Anderson is always going to be driven down in value by low walk rates, not having that classic 30-40 homer power and occasional defensive lapses or losses of focus.

He probably equates more to a Lindor type (at least pre 2021), but that’s somewhat scary (even more pressure to keep him in the fold) when you consider he will be 31/32 as his contract ends after 2024…especially for a player who derives considerable value from his speed.

There are so many leaders on this team, but he is THE guy, quite clearly.  Irreplaceable?  We shall find out.

Certainly great for promoting the sport, for connecting with young people, for inspiring athletes in other sports to try baseball…etc.

He has the swagger to lead the team to bigger and better things, and lead MLB into a new and modern era to widen its appeal.

55 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

This thread is bad.  Tim Anderson is one of the best SS in baseball.  The guy is a batting champion, yet we are going to talk about the ABS he "gives away"?  Tim Anderson is a hitter.  He's never going to be the guy to take pitches. Expecting that from from TA is just not understanding the type of player he is.

Maybe he should not be a lead off hitter, and don’t have to worry about taking walks. He could hit second?

1 minute ago, hankchifan said:

Maybe he should not be a lead off hitter, and don’t have to worry about taking walks. He could hit second?

He gets on base at a nice clip despite the lack of walks. He's fine leading off

A couple years ago I predicted after winning a batting title he could be the 2020 MVP and got laughed off the thread. I might have just been a bit premature. His stats might need to bump a bit but he just has *it*.

Tim Anderson is the best thing to happen to baseball and they don't market him nearly enough. They've started to, but they're not quite there.

In terms of production, he has continued to make incremental improvements on an already high level/bar. I don't expect massive leaps from this level, but he is a 3-4 fWAR / season player, one of the best at his position. He has also had no significant or lengthy injuries, so there is a very good expectation he will age well during the rest of his contract, and that he can hopefully be renewed for a few more seasons when we get to 2023/2024.

Beyond the quantitative aspects, his leadership is real and tangible. Has been a very strong leader for a few years (started in mid 20s), and players younger and older are inspired by him and his efforts to incorporate everyone into the team and to do their best. He is also a very important catalyst to the offense and infield defense. His absence has meant more to the overall record than the loss of any other player including all other top core members, including Jose who had a literal MVP season.

2020-2021 White Sox Record (based on player appearances in a game)

• .602 (41-27) Eloy Jimenez (Skewed by Eloy's injuries / small sample size. Over Eloy's 3 seasons, Tim (143-127 .530) is well ahead of Eloy (93-97 .489))
• .592 (87-60) Tim Anderson 
• .585 (103-73) Chicago White Sox (Sox have a similar winning percentage last year (.583) and this (.586))
• .583 (91-65) Yoan Moncada
• .580 (98-71) Jose Abreu
• .578 (48-35) Nick Madrigal
• .571 (48-36) Luis Robert
• .560 (61-48) Yasmani Grandal - (The Sox are 42-25, or .627, in games Grandal has not appeared in)

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by South Side Hit Men

4 hours ago, Quin said:

Tim Anderson is the best thing to happen to baseball and they don't market him nearly enough. They've started to, but they're not quite there.

Who is well marketed, though?

Trout never really embraced that role.

Ohtani?

Does it have to be a Yankee or Red Sox?

Basically you’re left with TA7, Tatis, Acuna, Harper, deGrom, Judge, Betts, Soto and Vladdy, Jr.

Tim is always talking about how he's looking to improve or add to his game, but I think the low walk rate is just who he is as a hitter. He's aggressive and he makes high contact, and he's done it over a long enough time that it's sustainable, but if he changed his approach and started taking more pitches it'd start messing with his DNA as a player. He's not, for example, Luis Robert, a guy who is still figuring it out.

11 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Anderson is always going to be driven down in value by low walk rates, not having that classic 30-40 homer power and occasional defensive lapses or losses of focus.

He probably equates more to a Lindor type (at least pre 2021), but that’s somewhat scary (even more pressure to keep him in the fold) when you consider he will be 31/32 as his contract ends after 2024…especially for a player who derives considerable value from his speed.

There are so many leaders on this team, but he is THE guy, quite clearly.  Irreplaceable?  We shall find out.

Certainly great for promoting the sport, for connecting with young people, for inspiring athletes in other sports to try baseball…etc.

One thing about his speed that puzzles me. How come it takes him so long to get out of the box after hitting? It's a small thing, but it probably costs 

him .2 WAR a year. He'd get more infield hits and  less GIDP's if he could correct it. 

6 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

In terms of production, he has continued to make incremental improvements on an already high level/bar. I don't expect massive leaps from this level, but he is a 3-4 fWAR / season player, one of the best at his position. He has also had no significant or lengthy injuries, so there is a very good expectation he will age well during the rest of his contract, and that he can hopefully be renewed for a few more seasons when we get to 2023/2024.

Beyond the quantitative aspects, his leadership is real and tangible. Has been a very strong leader for a few years (started in mid 20s), and players younger and older are inspired by him and his efforts to incorporate everyone into the team and to do their best. He is also a very important catalyst to the offense and infield defense. His absence has meant more to the overall record than the loss of any other player including all other top core members, including Jose who had a literal MVP season.

2020-2021 White Sox Record (based on player appearances in a game)

• .602 (41-27) Eloy Jimenez (Skewed by Eloy's injuries / small sample size. Over Eloy's 3 seasons, Tim (143-127 .530) is well ahead of Eloy (93-97 .489))
• .592 (87-60) Tim Anderson 
• .585 (103-73) Chicago White Sox (Sox have a similar winning percentage last year (.583) and this (.586))
• .583 (91-65) Yoan Moncada
• .580 (98-71) Jose Abreu
• .578 (48-35) Nick Madrigal
• .571 (48-36) Luis Robert
• .560 (61-48) Yasmani Grandal - (The Sox are 42-25, or .627, in games Grandal has not appeared in)

The Grandal number surprised me the most, but how much of that is skewed by which pitchers he would (or would not) regularly catch?

I fully think think that at the end of his career, we will look back and say that he had a Lebron like impact in baseball in terms of changing the way the game is played and really being the face of the modern game.  He might not be quite as good as Lebron, he's not the GOAT, but I think he's a bonafide superstar.

Hate to bring up bad memories but TA and FTJ on the same team would have been insane.

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by Dick Allen

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Hate to bring up bad memories but TA and FTJ on the same team would have been insane.

If Tatis was on this team we might not have gone out and acquired this season's World Series hero, Cesar Hernandez....wait and see!!!

10 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Hate to bring up bad memories but TA and FTJ on the same team would have been insane.

There’s our RF solution.