Chicago White Sox: Tim Anderson is on a crazy run since 2019

Tim Anderson is often the tone-setter for the Chicago White Sox. He has earned his job as the team’s leadoff man and now he does it at an elite level. He showed it on Sunday when he drove the first pitch out of Wrigley Field and the White Sox had a 1-0 lead before people even sat down. When you take a deep dive into Anderson’s career, however, you can see that he has been so good for a few years now.

The batting average is a very flawed stat in the year 2021. There are other, more effective ways, to evaluate hitters sometimes but that doesn’t mean that the stat is a joke either. Yes, someone’s on-base percentage, wins above replacement, or on-base plus slugging amongst other things might be great tools as well. Someone with a .230 batting average might still be a very effective hitter.

However, when you consistently are near the top of the league in batting average, you are doing something right. Especially when your other stats are very good to go with it. Each stat can be used as a tool in its own way and Tim Anderson’s batting average is very impressive.

Since 2019, no qualified hitter has a better batting average over that span than Tim Anderson’s .317. He is directly ahead of players like Michael Brantley, Trea Turner, DJ LeMahieu, and Xander Bogaerts. That is a really nice group of baseball players to be associated with in any way.

Tim Anderson is the perfect shortstop for the 2021 Chicago White Sox.

Anderson doesn’t have the raw power of someone like Eloy Jimenez or Luis Robert but he does have enough to earn him a few home runs per season. He is the best at driving the ball opposite field too which makes him very hard to pitch to. No pitcher enjoys seeing this guy knowing that Cesar Hernandez, Eloy Jimenez, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, and Luis Robert are coming after him.

This is an incredible run for Tim Anderson since 2019. He had some development to go before that but he really hit his stride with his bat starting that year. He knew that he needed to work on his play as a defensive shortstop and has done that as well. He can pretty much make every play needed over there.

A lot of people are still upset that the White Sox traded away Fernando Tatis Jr back before the rebuild. Well, having Tim Anderson makes it okay. There isn’t anyone more perfect to play shortstop for this team right now than him.

Anderson has also become one of the organization’s big-time leaders. He can do it all on the field and he can be the captain of the team as well. Along with Jose Abreu, this team is in good hands when it comes to that aspect. Hopefully, he can keep that batting average (and other stats) right where it is and lead this lineup to the promised land.