2018 is off to a slow start for the rebuilding White Sox. Going into tonight’s tilt against the Minnesota Twins, Chicago’s 8-20 record has them 4th in the AL Central, trailing The Indians by 7.5 games.
Is it frustrating to watch?
Yep.
But is it by design?
100%.
Have there been a series of bright spots among these stockpiling losses?
Absolutely.
Tim Anderson has certainly been a beacon of hope early in the season. Anderson is a menace on the basepaths, swiping 9 bags on 10 attempts and his walk rate is up drastically compared to 2017. According to Fangraphs, TA7 is not only walking more but striking out less (19.1% K rate compared to 26.7% in 2017). These alone are reasons for Sox fans to be excited about Anderson but there’s much more to his game.
He’s been involved in a few confrontations early in 2018. Anderson lead off April 28th’s game in KC with a solo shot. After going deep, Anderson celebrated, yelling “woo!” and mixed in some cheers as he rounded the bases. Veteran backstop, Salvador Perez, took exception to this.
Salvy had shared some thoughts on Tim Anderson. Perez thought Anderson disrespected the Royals as he rounded the bases shouting "f– let's go." Here's a highlight: pic.twitter.com/vgtm6dk1GR
— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) April 29, 2018
The benches briefly cleared later in the game with no real consequences.
All of this comes off the heels of the Astros series where longtime ace, Justin Verlander, also had issues with Anderson’s behavior on the diamond.
Justin Verlander/Tim Anderson Beef.https://t.co/Lt7fJS1SAN pic.twitter.com/2IpYiZQZkq
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 21, 2018
Verlander had this to say to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.
“He steals on 3-0 in a 5-0 game, that’s probably not great baseball,” Verlander said. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. But he celebrated that, though. And it’s like ‘Hey, I’m not worried about you right now. It’s 5-0, I’m giving a high leg kick, I know you can steal. If I don’t want you to steal, I’ll be a little bit more aware of you. But I’m trying to get this guy out at the plate.'”
Sure, Anderson wasn’t given credit for a stolen base and Narvaez walked on that 3-0 pitch but that’s not whats intriguing about this exchange. What matters is that Anderson is out there competing and giving it his all while down 5-0 to arguably the best pitcher in the American League. I’ll take that in my shortstop every day of the week.
After a tumultuous 2017 both on and off the diamond, TA7 is having fun again and playing the game passionately. These instances are evidence of that.
In the midst of a rebuild, the White Sox must establish a certain culture. A culture in which a maximum effort is put forth regardless of who is lined up in the opposing dugout. Anderson embodies that to a tee.
The White Sox sit at 8-20. With 9 of their 20 losses coming by two runs or less, this team is competitive. As this team continues to grow and play with that fire, these close losses will turn to W’s and then it’s off to the races.
