Chicago White Sox: Can Tim Anderson do it again?

The Chicago White Sox had the Major League Baseball batting champion on their team in Tim Anderson, so the question is can he be that good again?

Tim Anderson was one of the Chicago White Sox players that needed to take a step forward in 2019. He did that in a big way. His defense still needs some improvement, but he was an absolute stud at the dish. He won the Major League Baseball batting title with his league-leading .335 batting average. It was a remarkable season for him and one he hopes to build on. In addition to having that elite batting average, he also scored 81 runs, hit 18 home runs, had 17 stolen bases, and had a WAR of 4.0.

This was a major improvement to the years before. He certainly wasn’t a bad player by any means in the previous years but he was nowhere near elite like he was in 2019. He may have had a chip on his shoulder after seeing how badly fans wanted the White Sox to land free-agent star Manny Machado who’s preference position is the shortstop. Now, Machado still likely would have played third with the White Sox but there is a chance that Tim felt the pressure.

Either way, Anderson is the White Sox shortstop and there is nobody that they would rather have. As long as his defense continues to improve and he can cut down the errors, he will truly emerge as one of the best shortstops in all of baseball. This is a guy who is a leader in the clubhouse and brings a little bit of attitude to the organization. He is the type of guy his teammates and fans alike would run through a wall for and he knows it.

So the question remains of whether or not he can repeat that level of performance. The answer doesn’t really matter. As a matter of fact, you can say that it is unlikely that he wins the batting title again because there are so many great players who have really high averages and a hit here or a hit there could change the entire outlook of it. The important thing is that Tim continues to be a really good contact hitter and helps the White Sox in their quest to become a championship-caliber team.

If Anderson can regularly be a .300 hitter and be great at stealing bases, scoring runs and hitting in runs, the Whtie Sox are going to be so happy with him. He is a great player and one that everyone should be so excited about being a part of the White Sox core for a long time.