Tim Anderson led the bottom half of the first Sunday against the Chicago Cubs in typical Tim Anderson fashion, hitting the ball to the other side for a single.
The White Sox shortstop displayed another part of his game later in the innings, swiping second base.
The Sox will be missing that all-around game for an unspecified period of time after Anderson came out in fifth with a strained right groin. After taking the grounder to the left to field and making the throw first, he fell to the ground in shallow center field.
Sox manager Tony La Russa said Anderson was at the top of the injured list.
“If he goes down like this, you know something is up,” Sox fielder Danny Mendick said on Sunday. “Hopefully he can be healthy and out of there soon.”
Anderson has a .356/.393/.503 slash line with five home runs, 19 RBIs and eight steals in 40 games. According to fangraphs.com, he has 164 weighted runs plus (wRC+) scored, ranking 11th in the majors. The stat estimates a player’s offensive contribution to the total runs and adjusts that number to external factors such as ballpark and era. The Major-League average is 100, which means Anderson is 64% higher than him.
“He is a great player, legitimately a great player,” La Russa said on Sunday.
Here are four numbers that highlight Anderson’s influence.
.580 — White Sox winning percentage since 2020 with Anderson starts
Anderson is a major reason the Sox made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2020 and ’21 in consecutive seasons. According to the Sox, since the start of the 2020 season, they are 123-89 when he is in the starting lineup and 28-28.
During that period, the Sox are 104–58 when Anderson hits at least one and 26–3 when he hits a homer.
Anderson has done well season after season. He scored nine hits in the 2020 wild-card series against the Oakland Athletics, batting .643 in three matches. He had seven hits in last season’s American League Division Series against the Houston Astros, .368 hits in four games.
15 – Leadoff home run
Anderson wasted no time helping the offense against the Los Angeles Angels at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 30, hitting Jose Suarez’s first pitch into the wall of the right field.
It was the 15th lead-off home run of Anderson’s career, and his second this season. The first was in Minnesota on April 24.
He has hit six homers on the first pitch of a game, the third in major league history, and he is second behind Ray Durham (20) in leadoff homers by a Sox player.
49 – 3-hit game from 2019
Anderson had two hits during the second game of the doubleheader against the New York Yankees on May 22, when he came to bat in eighth.
Yankees Stadium fans greeted Anderson throughout the game after Yankees third baseman/designated hitter Josh Donaldson called Anderson “Jackie” during the previous day’s game and a conversation between Donaldson and the Sox resulted in the clearing of benches. . ,
The nationally broadcast Sunday night game had two ons and two outs, and the Sox led two. Anderson provided insurance with a dramatic three-run home run to the right, calming the crowd.
“You have to give me something to inspire me,” Anderson said two days later.
Anderson had another three-hit game on May 26 against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, and his 49 three-hit games since 2019 are the most in baseball during that stretch, according to the Sox. The Sox are 34-15 in those games.
.326 — Batting average since 2019
Anderson entered Sunday with a .326 batting average since 2019, topping the majors during that period, according to the Sox.
Anderson led the majors in 2019 with a .335 average, finished second in the American League in 2020 (.322) and fourth in the AL last season (.309).
Entering Monday, Anderson finished third in the AL this year at .356.
“Tim is a great player who has had a wonderful year,” La Russa said on Sunday. “Now he has to recover. It’s not fun to recover from any injury. But for us, it’s just a matter of seeing who we send. We have a lot of players to send who can help us win the match. That’s ours. attitude.”
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