White Sox young shortstop defensive struggles hurting team to start season. The 2013 first round pick has also struggled at the plate.
Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been struggling defensively this season. The 23-year-old shortstop has committed seven errors in just 27 games for the Sox in 2017. After committing two errors in a game on Saturday, Anderson sat out Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Orioles.
Anderson has also been struggling offensively to start the season. The 2013 first round draft pick is hitting .208 with two home runs and six RBI’s. Anderson was dropped in the batting order to seventh on Saturday against Baltimore. Although Anderson is struggling to start the season, he acknowledges this has been one of the toughest times of his career according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago.
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The Sox aren’t expected to contend this season, but Anderson’s defensive struggles has hurt the team early in the 2017 campaign. Last season, Anderson committed 14 errors in 98 games for a .965 fielding percentage at shortstop. This season, Anderson’s fielding percentage is at .934. His range factor per nine innings has decreased from 4.04 in 2016 to 3.76 this season.
This doesn’t bode well for a player that could be a cornerstone of the Sox rebuild. Sox manager Rick Renteria mentioned he gave Anderson a minute to take a breath after dropping him from leadoff to hitting seventh according to Hayes. Renteria stated Anderson expressed his recent struggles.
"“I think he knows ultimately it comes back to him continuing to trust the work he puts in and to trust himself. He’s a young player, and like most young players, every now and then, when you hit a little skid, you have a tendency to possibly lose your confidence. But I think we’re encouraging him to be himself, continue to work, not beat himself up as much, because everybody wants to perform. But don’t beat yourself up. Just go out there and keep playing the game.” Rick Renteira"
Many Sox fans might believe Anderson is trying to hard to justify the contract extension he received just before the start of this season. The Sox signed Anderson to a six-year $25 million extension before Opening Day. If Anderson is trying to justify his worth, he should just relax and not put too much pressure on himself.
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Anderson is a talented player, but he’s going to experience many ups and downs in his MLB career. If he can began to relax more at the plate and on defense, the Sox will be able to benefit. Anderson could be a future All-Star for the Sox, but for now he just has to focus on providing solid defense at shortstop.