The 2019 season was a massive success for shortstop Tim Anderson. It all started in April when the eventual A.L. Player of the Month made national headlines for a bat flip and revealed that he was on a quest to make baseball more fun.
Tim Anderson’s 2019 season was plenty of fun on its own, as the 26-year-old hit .335/.357/.508 with a 130 wRC+ and 3.6 fWAR. Despite a .399 BABIP, batted ball metrics suggest that Anderson would be a productive hitter (.287 expected batting average) even with neutral luck.
Defensively, Anderson took a step back from his stellar 2018 performance, but he has stated that defense will be his primary focus this offseason. After seeing how much his offense improved with one offseason, chances are that he will be more than fine defensively going forward.
After Anderson’s bat flip against the Royals, I wrote that the White Sox should market him more aggressively due to his potential for national recognition, his charity, and of course, his good play. To the organization’s credit, they have done so, and they will likely market him even more next season. The most important factor to the marketability of Tim Anderson, or any player, is on-field performance. Anderson was a fine player prior to this season, but now that he is truly blossoming into a star, he should become the face of the White Sox rebuild. Winning the batting title is certainly a step in the right direction.
Featured Photo: @FotoGenocide_ (Twitter)