Tim Anderson

[NCsoxfan]

Overall impression and grade for Tim Anderson so far? Grade him based on the position he's been thrown into and what he's done to date in his brief MLB stint.

 

I will say A-. I'm impressed by his range and decent arm. He's got a much livelier bat than I thought. Taking numerois pitches hard to RF has also been nice to see. Obviously he's very aggressive at the plate which is good and bad, but long term he probably needs more patience otherwise he will never walk.

 

Too rosy of a grade? Considering many were concerned we pushed him into the spotlight too soon, it seems like he's handled it like a pro. Excited to see his career progress.

[caulfield12]

A/A+ based on the position he was thrust into...to be the spark of the offense as a rookie, AND hitting leadoff, AND playing the most important position on the field other than catcher

 

B+/A- based on actual performance, defense a lot better than advertised but the walks and inability (so far) to adjust to breaking balls and pitches out of the zone are the only significant concerns at the moment

Edited June 26, 2016 by caulfield12

[WBWSF]

From what I have seen of him he appears to be Hall Of Fame bound.

[klaus kinski]

"A". Has exceeded expectations

[daggins]

I haven't watched him on defense, so I can't comment. Offensively, he has been as expected, with high BABIP and contact skills compensating for high K rate and no BB skills. Power has exceeded expectations.

 

B/B+, and he definitely should not be leading off.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

He's exceeded my expectations honestly. From being a worn down sox fan and his recent history, I expected struggles early and then for him to pick it up. He's been slot better than I thought. Power numbers are there, XBHs. Need to get him on more and take advantage of his speed. We have seen it at times with Eaton behind him. I'm really loving this move because while his OBP isn't going to what Eatons is, he gives us a lead off hitter and allows the Sox to upgrade the 2 spot in house. I'm good 1-6. Need Jackson back, see what Morneau does, add a bat or 2 if possible and this lineup will be alright.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

I haven't watched him on defense, so I can't comment. Offensively, he has been as expected, with high BABIP and contact skills compensating for high K rate and no BB skills. Power has exceeded expectations.

 

B/B+, and he definitely should not be leading off.

He's been fine defensively from what I've seen. Now I haven't watched every bit of every game but I've saw enough of his defense to know he's got great range, good glove, and accurate strong arm. He's made one bad throw IIRC.

[Jake]

The main things I've been looking for:

 

1. Will he play so badly that it could permanently hurt his development? So far, that doesn't appear to be the case.

 

2. Will he be at least in the ballpark of the play we'd expect to have gotten from Rollins/Saladino? So far, we almost certainly haven't downgraded in that position unless you're a major Saladino nuthugger.

 

Strikeouts are high and he hasn't drawn a walk yet, but that wasn't entirely unexpected. He has a lot of at bats where he looks like he has no chance, but he exudes talent and you can see it at the plate. Can't say if he's a defensive star just yet, but he's far from the guy that many scouts were matter-of-factly claiming could never play SS/the infield. He looks MLB-quality there, at the least.

[harkness99]

His defense has been a surprise...

 

Also has shown more power than I was guessing he has.

[Dunt]

If he learns to take walks, he will be a superstar. If his game doesn't change at all, he will be a very good player. Solid defender, lightning quick bat, great baserunner. It's really fun to watch an exciting position player come up through the Sox farm system.

[BigHurt3515]

2. Will he be at least in the ballpark of the play we'd expect to have gotten from Rollins/Saladino? So far, we almost certainly haven't downgraded in that position unless you're a major Saladino nuthugger.

 

I might be Saladino's biggest fan but I think Anderson has been an improvement at SS (offensively). With Avi's struggles I think it might be smart to DH Frazier and Abreu more often and play Saladino in the field. We need to bring up a guy who can play the INF though (L. Garcia)

[jasonxctf]

73 at bats without a walk.

[greg775]

He looks great. Somebody compared him to Soriano with the long swing and the big bat and propensity to never draw a walk.

 

I love Anderson. He's a pleasure to watch run the bases. FAST!

But swinging at everything means trouble in the future. Somehow he's got to learn how to draw walks. He has zero walks and had less than 10 this season in the minors with all those at bats. How does a guy draw walks? I dunno. I'd do the same thing if I were a big leaguer, go up there hacking. But hacking won't cut it through the long, long, long season. Got to draw walks, too.

 

But I would give him a grade of A so far, of course, especially considering how many guys start their careers off horribly.

[EvilJester99]

Just hope he doesn't pull a Beckham.. remember how good everyone thought he was going to be... yikes

[soxforlife05]

Just hope he doesn't pull a Beckham.. remember how good everyone thought he was going to be... yikes

 

He's not even on pace for as good of a season as Beckham had. And Beckham was taking walks too....

 

I'm not sold he can do it long term unless his walk rate starts going up gradually every month. He's gonna start getting junkballed soon

[Lillian]

Most of what I've seen was anticipated. The most impressive thing is his extraordinary range, which just may enable him to develop into an elite defender at short.

He certainly has the tools.

 

The least surprising aspect of his game is his lack of patience, at the plate. He will never stick at leadoff, unless he can learn to take his walks. Without an ocassional base on balls, he would have to hit close to .350 to be an effective leadoff hitter.

[Quin]

Just hope he doesn't pull a Beckham.. remember how good everyone thought he was going to be... yikes

 

Big difference is Anderson is dripping with confidence, whereas Gordon had none.

[FT35]

I'm liking what he's shown so far and encouraged that we didn't trade him! In fairness, he hasn't really faced many of the AL's best pitchers, but has the ability to look over-matched in 1 at bat and then completely turn on a pitch and make the pitcher look bad in the next. It's hard to tell where he will settle in...I'm not sure the power is AS strong as what he's shown so far. I see flashes of an Orlando Hudson type floor. This weekend he's looked more like a young Alfonso Soriano--but I doubt that's where his skill set truly is! Can't wait to see the speed--it's exciting enough that it could really ignite this offense.

[clyons]

73 at bats without a walk.

 

Yes, but not to worry, given where he hits in the batting order.

[Kyyle23]

considering he usually starts slow in every level he has been at, and has been pretty successful so far, I am pretty happy with what I have seen so far.

 

Not every player is a complete OBP machine, im not expecting every player to be one. The kid can hit, hopefully the patience shows up soon as he gets accustomed to the majors

[he gone.]

I'm giving an A for so far. My biggest worry is what others are saying. Once teams get the "book" on him it will be interesting to see if he can re-adjust.

 

He's going to strikeout - that's not going to change. But I'd like to see a few walks in there.

But not everybody has to walk to be productive. Vlad Guerrero didn't walk. (also didn't K much if I remember too)

 

He'll take his bumps and bruises, and ultimately should be hitting 7-9 IMO - but for now, let it ride.

[southsider2k5]

Based on what Anderson has done so far, I don't see how you can't give him a B at the very least. The defense has been top notch. I am not sure Saladino has as much range, and his arm has been impressive too. The bat has been about what I expected, though I expected more ugly ABs to start with. Granted the one big thing you can hold against him is his patience, but with as close as he stands to the plate, he has really impressive plate coverage off of the outside corner, so he is hitting lots of those pitches he chases out of the zone. I know he will have his slumps with that long of a swing, but I give Anderson an A to this point for sure.

[hogan873]

I'm quite impressed with what I've seen so far. His defense has been great, which is what was expected. Aside from his lack of patience (which will hopefully improve as he sees more ML pitching), his offense is better than what I expected. He has more power than I thought, and he's fast when he gets on base.

 

I like him hitting lead-off even though he hasn't walked yet. Having him and Eaton at the top of the lineup has been exciting. If he can start taking some walks, they'll be a very dangerous duo setting the table for the power.

[southsider2k5]

I'm quite impressed with what I've seen so far. His defense has been great, which is what was expected. Aside from his lack of patience (which will hopefully improve as he sees more ML pitching), his offense is better than what I expected. He has more power than I thought, and he's fast when he gets on base.

 

I like him hitting lead-off even though he hasn't walked yet. Having him and Eaton at the top of the lineup has been exciting. If he can start taking some walks, they'll be a very dangerous duo setting the table for the power.

 

I know it isn't saber correct to have Anderson up there, but the offense is averaging 5.07 runs per game since he moved into the lead off spot. You have to ride that, at least under Anderson slumps.

[bmags]

I do worry that with his lack of walks it doesn't take much to slump. He's having lots of multi hit games, a few 0fers in a row and that line will be ugly.

 

I'm not concerned though. I think his mental buildup is that he needs to know he can hit MLB pitching, then he starts looking for the right pitches and will walk at a low, but tolerable amount hopefully (at least 6%).