How concerned were the White Sox with Brian Anderson's 0-for-3 performance in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader?

 

Apparently not much. He was in the leadoff spot for Game 2 for the first time in his career.

 

''I felt good about Brian for a couple years now,'' hitting coach Greg Walker said. ''We've seen pregame work now for two years that we think equates into game performance. We've challenged him a little bit where, 'Hey, it's time to step it up and start taking this pregame work into games.' We've seen that the last week, but now it's time to take this to the next level, which is consistency.''

 

That has been the Achilles' heel for the former first-round pick. Before stumbling against the Mariners -- he went 0-for-4 in the nightcap -- Anderson was hitting .462 over his last seven games. Sustaining a hot streak is what makes Anderson a work in progress.

 

''This kid is a superior athlete that is learning to hit in the big leagues, and sometimes it takes guys longer than others,'' Walker said. ''His problem is not the basic knowledge of how to hit because he's got it. It's about taking it to between the white lines. The last week was a nice showing, but now it has to keep up.''

 

The question facing the Sox -- which now sounds as if it will come up in late May rather than June -- is what happens when Dewayne Wise returns from a separated shoulder to try to reclaim the center-field job from Anderson?

 

Manager Ozzie Guillen has indicated it wouldn't be fair for Wise to lose his spot because of an injury, and frankly, Anderson feels almost the same way.

 

''No idea. Zero. Not a single idea,'' Anderson said when asked what he has been told about the situation. ''I wish [Wise] a speedy recovery. You want to play every day, but you don't want to play because someone got hurt. I know he's working his butt off, and hopefully he gets back sooner than later.''

 

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This was in the same article, in regards to Anderson. Santo just chose not to include it.

 

Can't blame him, it kind of undermines the idea of a "Vendetta."