![]() ![]() Like Chief Keef fans, most Sox fans were screaming Sosa. 285/.345/.456 with 14 extra-base hits since June 2 - so maybe that made picking up César Hernández again a luxury, but now the Sox have to roll with a mixture of Leury García and rookie Lenyn Sosa. Josh Harrison’s hitting has picked up - he’s slashing. The only thing that matters is he was unsuccessful. The Sox weren’t in a position to add someone who would’ve transformed them into a World Series contender, but you assume general manager Rick Hahn tried to add more depth pieces than left-handed reliever Jake Diekman. Too much time, if you’re concerned about White Sox baseball sending you to an early grave or the sanitarium.Īnderson’s injury brings more focus on the White Sox’s inability to add a hitter at the trade deadline. The season, well, there’s still time left. (No, your eyes probably haven’t been deceiving you about the number of warning-track outs.) In case you’re wondering, Anderson’s HR/FB rate was at 18.9 percent last year and he’s at a career-low 10.3 percent this year. But if you look at their home-run-to-fly-ball rate, they’re 27th at 9.2 percent last year, they were ninth at 14.6 percent. This year, they’re at 96, which puts them in a tie for 25th. Last season, the Sox hit 190 homers, which put them 19th in baseball. While Anderson, not exactly a home-run hitter, isn’t to blame for the Sox’s offensive woes, his lack of power production is part and parcel of the team’s struggles in that department. But he won’t have the chance to get on a roll this season. No one would’ve been surprised if he got hot down the stretch and carried the Sox over the finish line. And Anderson has shown he can fix a slump in quick order. 272 average in May as the outlier.Īs our James Fegan wrote, when Anderson is slumping, astute observers can see it stems from an off-balance approach. 300 or better in five of the six months, with a. 310/.326/.532 in the second (49 games), with a little power surge (eight homers in 156 at-bats) in August and September/October. Last season, Anderson was remarkably consistent. (It’s almost hard to believe the Josh Donaldson incident was from this season because it seems so long ago.) Defensively, he hasn’t looked as sharp this season. 356/.393/.503 in his first 40 games of the season. 301 batting average but has been in a slump since coming off that multi-week stint on the IL (right groin strain) on June 20. But, even he hasn’t been himself lately.Īnderson still sports a. After Wednesday’s 8-3 loss in Kansas City, the Sox are 8-7 with one game left against the Royals and a three-game series against the Tigers before Houston comes to the South Side.Īnd now they won’t have Anderson at the top of the order. The Sox famously went 10-9 in their all-important stretch against the AL Central, setting up another 19-game run against teams with losing records. Where will the Sox be when Anderson’s finger is better: in a good place, finally realizing their potential despite his absence trying to stay afloat in a three-team divisional race or sinking like a stone under the weight of missed expectations? The Sox haven’t looked like a team going all-out to win, so it’s hard to imagine them turning it on down the stretch, particularly with Anderson out of the picture. While no one wants to not see Anderson play, it would be poetic justice for this underachieving, borderline unwatchable team if an injury to their leader is what finally does them in after tap-dancing on the edge for so long. There’s probably a good chance Anderson doesn’t make it back this season. That timeline puts a possible return in late September or early October. Six weeks is an eternity when it’s August and your team is fighting for its playoff life. His second, and most costly trip to the injured list, is because of a torn tendon in his left middle finger, an improbable injury suffered last week on a check swing, and now he’s out for six weeks after undergoing surgery Thursday. I guess you could say he’s still representative of the current White Sox experience. ![]() ![]() So far, he’s been up, he’s been down and he’s been injured. Anderson came into this season with more commercials, more hype and more expectations. ![]()
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