White Sox shortstop having one of the best starts to the season of any current player. This is the type of player fans have been waiting to see since his debut.
Tim Anderson has been one of the hottest players for the White Sox to start this season. He currently leads the team in batting average and his hustle has helped the team recently. Anderson has become a spark plug that was needed for this franchise and fanbase in 2019.
After making his major league debut in 2016, Anderson has gone through a lot of growing pains professionally and personally. He’s endured the pain of playing throughout the tough loss of a personal friend. He’s battled back from professional lows for his defense and offense while also becoming a positive influence on the South Side.
Before the start of this season, Anderson perhaps became the voice of hope for White Sox fans when he made an emphatic statement in regards to free agents choosing to sign elsewhere. He has backed up his words with his performance for the Sox in the first few weeks of this season. Through 13 games, Anderson is hitting .453 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and an impressive 1.142 OPS.
Anderson is already a 0.8 WAR player and we haven’t made it through the first month of the season. If he keeps this up, he could be on pace to end this season with a WAR above 3.5 which would be great for the young shortstop. White Sox fans surely needed to see Anderson get off to a good start this season along with other players.
The White Sox drafted him with the 17th overall pick in the 2013 MLB draft. Although the Sox haven’t had much success with first-round draft picks this century with the exception of Chris Sale. Anderson performing well this season and being an average player could dispel any doubts fans might have had about the Sox amateur scouting.
Anderson surely won’t keep his batting average above .400 to end this season. But his progression at the major league level shouldn’t go unnoticed by White Sox fans who have been looking for hope this year. Anderson likely won’t ever contend for a Gold Glove award on defense but he is still getting better at shortstop which is good news for a player that had so much raw talent when he was drafted.
White Sox fans needed a hero for this season and they might have gotten one in Anderson. Fans have been waiting a long time to see him live up to his potential. It will be interesting to see if Anderson can maintain his early success this year and turn it into his first appearance in the All-Star Game in July. He might not be the only Sox player at the Midsummer Classic in Cleveland.