Let’s Talk Tim Anderson
The FromThe108 blog turned 7 years old on March 2, 2023. Our first blog was a defense of Avisail Garcia, wow has time flown. That’s right we (at least the blog form of us) were born on March 2, 2016. Just a few months later, actually almost 7 years ago from today, Tim Anderson was called up and thrust into a desperate White Sox line up on June 10, 2016. He doubled down the third base line in his first plate appearance. Since we “broke-in” at the same time, we have written about Tim Anderson, a lot. Sometimes to assure ourselves that he won’t be like other White Sox of our past. Other times to reinforce the point that although Anderson got results in an unorthodox way, that he was still very good and we should treat him as such. However, the 2023 season hasn’t been so kind to Tim.
A Day Off Was Needed
On Saturday, after a soul crushing 9th inning loss, I tweeted that I thought Tim Anderson might need a day off. I was in Toronto in the throws of a 72 hour bachelor party sesh for our man Josh Nelson when I tweeted this. I didn’t tweet this because I was blaming Tim for the days loss. Nor was I implying that he’s not one of the best nine players on the roster. Just that I thought he could use a mental break. We all can use a mental break from time to time. The responses exploded. Tim is a powder keg for White Sox fans especially in the eye of a year and half long underperformance tornado for the squad.
Tim is struggling on the 2023 season, as all of you White Sox fans who have been watching can surely see. He’s hitting a slash line of .263 / .300 / .311 for a 70 wRC+ (100 is league average, so 30% below league average), he accumulated only 0.1 fWAR in 200 Plate Appearance this season. That’s a far cry from his career numbers and an even further toss from 2019 / 2022, lead the league in batting average Tim Anderson.
When you look a little more macro at this, it’s even more scary. The first graph below (from Fangraphs) is each team by wRC+ batting 1st. The White Sox are 2nd to last in MLB.
The next graph is MLB Teams by wRC+ at Shortstop….oof again.
That’s not all Tim, but these graphs are mostly Tim.
Not known as a glove first shortstop, Tim’s defense in the past has been spectacular at times, and frustrating at others, leaving him a solidly average defender for much of his career. The 2023 season has seen a dip in those numbers, with a -1 Outs Above Average (Baseball Savant) and -4 Defensive Runs Saved (Fielding Bible). YMMV on defensive metrics. The defensive issues have also seemed to come at the worst possible times, especially for a team that has been horrific at scraping runs together. The unofficial leader of the White Sox is struggling mightily as the team struggles in tandem in the worst division in MLB.
So what to do about it?
Trade Tim Anderson?
One of the craziest things I keep seeing, is that with Tim Anderson having the worst season of his career, the White Sox should trade him. That shit is wild. First, you are likely to put yourself in a spot where you get minimal back in a deal, with all the upside (a Tim rebound) going to your trade partner. Second, I have looked around this roster and there really isn’t another shortstop with his upside hanging out here.
I’m sure you could find a partner. And maybe for you, just moving Tim Anderson off the roster is enough to make you happy. But I really just don’t see it. Not now. We need to dig in here to what we think is going on. And do we think there is a rebound in here some where?
Off the Field Concerns!?!?!?
You already know the stories. I ain’t linking them here, google at your convenience. And I can’t say for sure that his personal life isn’t spilling into his on-field play, but I am skeptical. It’s likely things like this were going on during other very good Tim Anderson seasons. And for those of you have an issue with the morality of the situation…..boy oh boy, if we crowd sourced similar stories about your favorite Chicago Sportsmen would we find some interesting things. So take a stand where you need to, but tread lightly, you might end up being pretty mad at some heroes in hindsight.
Injuries, Driveline and The Modern NFL Running Back Theory
Remember Tim Anderson went to Driveline in the off-season? I remember at the time thinking how interesting it was that he did. While that information was flowing through to us, we had giant treasure chests being handed out to the current free agent shortstop class. Made some sense at the time that Tim was working on some portions of his game to allow him to potentially cash in on that gravy train when it was his time to be a free agent. So I filed it away and didn’t think anything of it. Then this season started happening and well, it got my fucking mind wandering. Could it be career regression and injuries that sent Tim to Driveline?
Since Tim went down with a groin injury on May 29, 2022, thru yesterday, he’s had 378 Plate Appearances that have resulted in just a single home run, and a slash of .256 / .294 / .301 for a 68 wRC+. Upon further digging into his 2022 and 2023 stats, it seems like right handed pitching and particularly breaking pitches are beating him down. As well as regressions in ground ball rate, sprint speed and barrel percentage. The scariest part though, is how he’s getting beat up in the middle of the plate.
Pre-batting champion Tim would run some stuff out like this, but since 2019, he’s been very effective in the middle of the plate. But now we are back. It got me wondering if there is a similarity between the athleticism it takes to play baseball like Tim Anderson and NFL Running backs?
I grew up watching great running backs have long careers in the NFL, but as I have aged, those have gone by the way side. The modern NFL running back gets beat to shit with a short but often times impressive peak and then the skills and athleticism diminish to the point where they just aren’t the same anymore. Is that happening to Tim? Was he aware that was happening when he went to Driveline in the off-season? Did this season’s injury and the quick return to the lineup push him further down that path? Have we already seen the best of Tim Anderson and now we are watching the downside of his career? I don’t know the answers, but FUCK!
The Reality of the Situation
Much like my recent blog where I noted I want the White Sox to buy at the deadline, not due to a major belief in any component of this team, just that it’s the best play. There really isn’t a scenario that works for the 2023 White Sox (or the 2024 version) where Tim Anderson doesn’t return to at least some semblance of his old self. I am guessing we’ll never get batting title Tim back, but we need perfectly solid league average Tim to at least show his face….and soon. I still want to believe, like I did when we started this blog, but we (and he) are running out of time.
-BeefLoaf
About The Author
beefloaf108
Low information White Sox Fan. Big Feet Energy ORIGINAL 108er Like Whore 2019 Opening Day #SoxMath WINNAR Mediocrity Personified
Great read. I miss the old TA. It’s rough to see him like this, as he is my favorite player on this team.
Agreed. I’m hopeful we’ll see some resurgence.
Slumps happen….. the lack of power is a concern, but I don’t think he’s cooked. I believe he can get back to the right field approach that brought all of his success.
I hope so. I just worry that enough of his athleticism has been chipped away by the various injuries that it might be tough.
How about moving him out of the spot in the order that gets the most at bats? Not sure why anyone isn’t asking the manager about that
I think they did ask the manager about that a couple of weeks ago and he said that he was gonna ride with Tim….but yea, moving him down might help.