Tim Anderson picked by Mayo as offensive player to watch in AFL

[caulfield12]

On the offensive side of things, I'm going with 2013 first-round pick Tim Anderson of the White Sox. The No. 2 prospect in the organization is also No. 82 overall. Taken No. 17 overall out of the junior college ranks, Anderson is the kind of athletic and toolsy player the White Sox covet.

 

He's capable of doing it all on the field when he's healthy. He's already shown an ability to hit for average with some pop. And he can really run, with a 70 for speed on the 20-80 scouting scale. In 151 professional games, the shortstop has hit .291, slugged .430 and stolen 34 bases. His 2014 season was interrupted by a month and a half with a fractured wrist.

 

Typically, a guy comes back from that kind of injury and it takes him a while to get going. Not so for Anderson. Not only did he hit .364 and slug .500 in his 10 games after returning from the injury (and a five-game rehab in the rookie-level Arizona League), he did it in Double-A, up a level from where he had started the season.

 

The White Sox have moved him aggressively and he's responded to every challenge. He went right to full-season ball after the Draft and hit .277 with 24 steals, not looking overwhelmed one bit. A move to the Class A Advanced Carolina League to start the 2014 season, at age 20? No biggie. Anderson hit .297 and slugged .472, with 31 extra-base hits in 286 at-bats. After a slow-ish start, he hit .322 and slugged .444 in May, then followed that up with a .317 average and .529 SLG in June. The most amazing thing about that performance? He evidently was playing with the broken wrist for over a week.

 

I'm not just interested to see Anderson swing the bat and run in Arizona. I'm curious to watch him play shortstop. At the time of the 2013 Draft, many felt Anderson would be better suited for center field, where his athleticism and speed would play well. But the White Sox had no plans to move him off of short. He did make 34 errors in 81 games this season, though Minor League defensive numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. I want to see, in a small sample size, how he does at the premium position for myself.

 

source

www.mlb.com

Edited October 8, 2014 by caulfield12