Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox
March/April Stats: 1.009 OPS, .240 ISO, 6 home runs, 18 RBI, good for a 172 wRC+ and 1.3 fWAR in 99 plate appearances
If there’s one image to describe Tim Anderson’s April, it’d probably be this:
Tim Anderson.
Bat flip.
LET'S GO HOME.
(via @NBCSWhiteSox)pic.twitter.com/dKcAoKJsIZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 27, 2019
Bat flip (or spike) aside, he’s off to a tremendous start. It’s almost as if he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder after the White Sox tried really hard to convince Manny Machado to come and play for them over the winter. Whether Anderson is on his way to a career year or not, some stats still need to come back down to reality a bit.
The young shortstop is entering May with baseball’s highest BABIP among qualified hitters (.435) despite producing just a 29.3% hard-hit rate. And after making strides in his plate discipline last season (career-high 5.0% walk rate), that number is back down to 2.0%. If the season ended today, that’d be a career-low mark.
Anderson is among the league leaders in chase rate (44.8%), but he’s also in the same spot with regard to swings in the strike zone (79.4%). The increased contact he’s experienced has helped him have a tremendous month at the plate.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
