Is Tim Anderson Ready?

[southsider2k5]

Gordon Beckham comps are lazy, the only reason people are bringing him up is because he's the freshest failure in our minds. They are very different situations.

 

I like Avi Garcia better, personally.

[Soxnfins]

Gordon Beckham comps are lazy, the only reason people are bringing him up is because he's the freshest failure in our minds. They are very different situations.

Not as much as it is lazy as it is a good comparison mentally for Anderson. Gordon was a SS converted into a 3B that was a mental midget... The game is 90% mental. That's just my opinion. Does Shawon Dunston ring a better tune? Personally, we need Anderson to do what he is best at- utilizing his speed and need him to grow defensively. That's why he needs to stay put where he is. He's an ideal #2 hitter with Eaton being our leadoff, or #9 to start out. Melky should be our #2 at the moment. Rollins at 8 or 9. If Robin wises up and puts him there, there's no real need to bring up Anderson until the end of July.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Soxnfins

[bmags]

Sure is nice to have Anderson forcing the issue.

[Y2Jimmy0]

Not as much as it is lazy as it is a good comparison mentally for Anderson. Gordon was a SS converted into a 3B that was a mental midget... The game is 90% mental. That's just my opinion. Does Shawon Dunston ring a better tune? Personally, we need Anderson to do what he is best at- utilizing his speed and need him to grow defensively. That's why he needs to stay put where he is. He's an ideal #2 hitter with Eaton being our leadoff, or #9 to start out. Melky should be our #2 at the moment. Rollins at 8 or 9. If Robin wises up and puts him there, there's no real need to bring up Anderson until the end of July.

 

 

I think Abreu needs to hit 2 personally.

[Kyyle23]

Not as much as it is lazy as it is a good comparison mentally for Anderson. Gordon was a SS converted into a 3B that was a mental midget... The game is 90% mental. That's just my opinion. Does Shawon Dunston ring a better tune? Personally, we need Anderson to do what he is best at- utilizing his speed and need him to grow defensively. That's why he needs to stay put where he is. He's an ideal #2 hitter with Eaton being our leadoff, or #9 to start out. Melky should be our #2 at the moment and if Robin wishes up and puts him there, there's no real need to bring up Anderson until the end of July. Rollins can be your 8 or 9.

 

Why is it that 1300 at bats isn't enough, and he has to prove that he is mentally capable enough to handle the job, yet you keep saying bring him up in July? Either you bring him up when you feel he is ready or you don't, the super 2 date should be irrelevant if you think he needs to prove he has the mental fortitude to handle it

[Soxnfins]

Why is it that 1300 at bats isn't enough, and he has to prove that he is mentally capable enough to handle the job, yet you keep saying bring him up in July? Either you bring him up when you feel he is ready or you don't, the super 2 date should be irrelevant if you think he needs to prove he has the mental fortitude to handle it

 

At the END of July, if he keeps showing some form of consistency, yes. Thats the mental aspect of it. I also did not say 1300 AB is an insufficient amount. He needs to show consistency throughout them. It shows a good sample. If he does, then great. Can't call him up after just one good month after his first 2 months in AAA. That's rushing. It's the same reason why you do not trade for a half year wonder. Consistency. Too much potential to bust. That's just my opinion. If Rollins keeps sucking, then it may force your hand. I want to see him in action as much as the next person, but patience is a virtue.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Soxnfins

[Lillian]

A few points regarding Anderson:

1) He can't come up to just be platooned, facing only LHP. He needs to play every day.

2) His results vs. RHP are probably not good enough yet, to justify his making the huge leap to the Majors.

3) His defense has to be polished enough to hold down the critical shortstop position. His plus arm strength and range are great tools, but he needs to

employ them effectively, and make the routine plays, including turning the double play.

4) He appears to have tremendous confidence. It would be a shame to shatter that by subjecting him to failure, on a grand scale.

5) To reiterate, he must demonstrate that he can work counts and draw an occasional base on balls.

[Dunt]

I like Avi Garcia better, personally.

 

Anderson profiles way better defensively than Avi ever did, but I understand what you're saying

[chitownsportsfan]

I honestly think Anderson can make it work without taking many walks. I'll take some s*** for this but his swing reminds me a bit of a right handed Tony Gwynn. It appears to have a hitch in it but he gets his hands to the ball incredibly fast. Obviously if TA has half the MLB hits as Gwynn by the time his career his up the Sox will have a helluva player for the next decade plus.

[Lillian]

The thing to remember, "Chitown" is that if he can't draw walks, he will need to be a .300 plus hitter, in order to have an acceptable OBP.

That is a pretty high bar for a young player, even one with a much longer professional career track record. His current OBP is only .21 above his average.

That is fine if he can keep hitting .321.

 

Moreover, I think some overlook how hard it is to get extra base hits, unless you are hitting balls in the strike zone. You will note that an awful lot

of his hits are singles. Of course, if he can steal enough bases, that would help boost the number of his total bases.

[chitownsportsfan]

The thing to remember, "Chitown" is that if he can't draw walks, he will need to be a .300 plus hitter, in order to have an acceptable OBP.

That is a pretty high bar for a young player, even one with a much longer professional career track record. His current OBP is only .21 above his average.

That is fine if he can keep hitting .321.

 

Moreover, I think some overlook how hard it is to get extra base hits, unless you are hitting balls in the strike zone. You will note that an awful lot

of his hits are singles. Of course, if he can steal enough bases, that would help boost the number of his total bases.

 

I don't think he will have any problem hitting for average in the big leagues, at least until he's 28 or so as his speed and hard contact will allow him to have a BABIP of around .350 or even higher. If he can hit 300/330/430 with average defense that's a 3-5 WAR SS.

 

I'm very high on Anderson as he's one of the few Sox position players that has responded to every early promotion they've given him.

Edited May 27, 2016 by chitownsportsfan

[bmags]

Most hitters hits are singles. He had 22 doubles and 7 triples last year. I fully expect him to have a healthy amount of doubles.

[Jake]

8 walks in May is very encouraging. He's going to always carry a decent batting average, but everything else is in the air. Will he strike out too much? Walk too little? Have enough pop? There are some good signs on all those fronts, but let's get him really dominating the level before calling him up. He's played what, 40 games in AAA? Let's take some time.

[Rowand44]

Gordon Beckham comps are lazy, the only reason people are bringing him up is because he's the freshest failure in our minds. They are very different situations.

All these comparisons are lazy. We haven't churned out a good hitting prospect in like a decade so we probably should never bring him up.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

Its gotta be a White Sox thing. Beckham and Flowers are both hitting really well in Atlanta, albeit in bench roles.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Its gotta be a White Sox thing. Beckham and Flowers are both hitting really well in Atlanta, albeit in bench roles.

 

Neither even have 90 PA yet. However, the thing that surprises me the most is the surging walk rate from both of them. Beckham is at 11.5% (8.0 and 4.6 in previous 2 years), and Flowers is at 10.1% (5.7 and 5.8 the previous 2 years). They are both striking out slightly less.

[caulfield12]

Well, comparing their numbers (or Phegley's with a middling A's team playing insignificant games)....might as well be comparing Kip Wells' (or Josh Foggs' years in PITT) with what he did for the Sox in 1999-2001.

 

Not really comparable or translatable to their situations and expectations with the White Sox. Nothing is expected of them in ATL. Except for them to be replaced by better players, eventually. Same role as Ryan Sweeney had with the Cubs. Placeholder, hopefully a bit above replacement value.

Edited May 27, 2016 by caulfield12

[lostfan]

I like Avi Garcia better, personally.

We all had a similar discussion about Viciedo IIRC. He could've used some more time down in AAA but we so desperately needed a bat he had to be called up. Never actually replicated his hot run of a few months after that, he never really got a feel for the pitches he should be swinging at.

[caulfield12]

The difference is Viciedo in 2008 when he was signed...they were talking about him playing 3B THE NEXT SEASON. In many ways, in the minors, it was the fielding and position changes that held him back, because he went from 3B to LF to 1B to DH and just couldn't play well anywhere from a defensive standpoint.

 

He didn't really become a full-time player until 2012. Ozzie saw some of his flaws and resisted bringing him up when Juan Pierre was struggling, must have been in 2010, and he mostly saw the most advantageous pitching match-ups so Ozzie kept his stats looking better than they would have with full-time play.

 

And I still haven't heard any explanation of what happened to his defense. Adam Eaton had a pretty bad season (comparatively) last year and became the best RFer in the game this year. There has to be SOME reason for that happening.

Edited May 27, 2016 by caulfield12

[WBWSF]

I noticed in tonights game against KC they flashed a picture of Anderson on the screen with his huge statistics. Hawk and Stone both pointed out how hot Anderson has been recently. Perhaps he might be brought up after this road trip. Who knows, he might even be our new DH.