Tim Anderson figures to be a main asset to the next great White Sox team. He fit the typical White Sox draft pick of being more of an athlete than a baseball player. In fact, he grew up playing basketball and led his high school to a state title. The first time he picked up a baseball bat wasn't until his junior year of high school.
In the minor's, Tim's 2 best tools were his hit and speed tools. He also flashed some surprising power, but the biggest concern evaluators had with him was whether he'd be able to man shortstop long term. They were right in assuming it would be a huge learning curve as he registered 48 errors in his first 243 games. That comes out to roughly one error every 5 games. Not good. This year though, things have been much different as he has 15 errors in 131 games. That comes out to one error for every 9 games. That still may not sound too great, but 10 of those 15 errors came before June 1st.
If that doesn't convince you that he's improving his defense, how about this stat:
Not bad for a guy who's future at shortstop was in question as recent earlier this year. When asked about his phenomenal play at short as of late, he summed it up about as perfectly as one could.
"I'm feeling more like a shortstop, not an athlete playing shortstop" - Tim andersonWhen he is making plays like this almost regularly now, it's easy to see what he means.
Tim is playing short more confidently than he ever has. And with the White Sox expected to be good sooner than later, it couldn't have come at a better time.
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