Tim Anderson bought a style of second base this spring enjoying for Team USA throughout the World Baseball Classic.
Sidelined a majority of the time since exiting Saturday’s sport in Seattle with proper shoulder soreness — a pinch-hitting look Tuesday the exception — the Chicago White Sox shortstop moved to second so he may return to motion in Friday’s 3-1 loss in opposition to the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Just being able to have it as an option,” Anderson stated after the sport. “Just trying to get in the lineup. I played some second in the WBC so definitely was an option tonight.”
He initially wasn’t within the lineup.
“TA went out there, threw, was taking his ground balls at short (before the game) and brought it up to me that ‘I can play second if we need it,’ ” supervisor Pedro Grifol stated earlier than the sport. “I said, ‘How do you feel with it?’ He said, ‘I’d like to go over there to get in the lineup. I’d like to be a part of this thing.’”
Grifol mentioned it with Anderson and common supervisor Rick Hahn and inserted him at second, hitting second within the lineup.
“Don’t read too much into it,” Grifol stated. “He desires to be part of the lineup tonight. After the sport we’ll consider it as if he wasn’t enjoying, see the place his arm is and decide on the place he performs tomorrow.
“All intentions are for him to go back to shortstop. This is not something we’re going to read into. This is about him wanting to be part of this lineup tonight and helping us win a baseball game.”
The White Sox got here up brief in that division.
Errors contributed to the defeat in entrance of 27,015. Anderson was charged with one when a pickoff try from beginning pitcher Lucas Giolito within the third went off Anderson’s glove and into heart. David Hamilton scored from second on the play.
“I just didn’t see it, didn’t pick it up,” Anderson stated.
Anderson tied the sport with a sacrifice fly to heart.
The Red Sox responded with two within the fourth. Masataka Yoshida reached on a fielding error by shortstop Elvis Andrus. Rafael Devers adopted with a two-run homer.
Giolito was the tough-luck shedding pitcher, permitting one earned run on three hits with 10 strikeouts and one stroll in six innings. Sox pitchers struck out 17.
The White Sox (32-45) have misplaced 9 of 12 and are seven video games out of first within the American League Central.
“Bottom line is we’ve got to swing the bat,” Grifol stated after the sport. “We’ve got to step on home plate. When you have this type of pitching, the positive to this is that if we start swinging the bat, we’ve got a chance to win some games.”
The Sox had eight hits, three from Eloy Jiménez. Anderson went 0-for-3 with the RBI on the sacrifice fly. He stated the shoulder “feels good.”
Grifol stated the size of the throw within the gap is one cause he may play second Friday and never shortstop.
“He said, ‘I can do it if I can get my feet under me, but if I have to go on the run and make that spin throw, I don’t want to put the team in a position where I can’t make that throw in the hole (from shortstop),’ ” Grifol stated earlier than the sport. “I requested him, ‘Can you make it?’ and he stated ‘There’s a risk however I haven’t accomplished it but in follow.’
“So it’s the length of the throw. Obviously second base is a closer throw. And he feels like he can handle it. He knows what he can handle and what he can’t. He knows his body. He knows how he feels. I don’t think he would ever put himself in harm’s way. If he wants to be a part of it like he told me did, it’s a good team move for him. He’s in our lineup tonight.”
Grifol stated Anderson’s WBC expertise is useful.
“Him doing that makes him feel comfortable over there,” Grifol stated. “He played high-leverage baseball. He figures he can do it over here as well. It speaks to his makeup, just that want to win and he’s like, ‘You know what, I can do it. Just put me in the lineup, I’ll play second base.’ ”
He performed 5 video games at second throughout the occasion. Overall, he slashed .333/.381/.500 with a double, triple, 5 RBIs and three runs in six WBC video games.
“I feel comfortable for the most part,” Anderson stated of enjoying second. “Just keep going with the plan until I feel all the way right to get back over to the other side.”
A two-time All-Star, Anderson is slashing .245/.284/.288 with 9 doubles, 11 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 53 video games. He was on the injured listing April 11-May 2 with a sprained left knee.
“He’s been so good at this level that he’s going to be good again,” Grifol stated. “Everybody goes by way of one thing like this in some unspecified time in the future in time in your profession. Nobody’s exempt from adversity on the major-league stage, enjoying in opposition to the very best on the planet each single night time, 162 (video games), for years and years. Unfortunately he had that damage, he battled by way of not being snug and shedding the texture of his legs and his physique.
“He’s going to get back in there and at any time he could hit .300 the rest of the way. He’s got that type of talent.”
Anderson has 814 profession big-league begins at shortstop. Friday marked his first at second.
Grifol recommended Anderson for giving it a go.
“He wants to be a part of this,” Grifol stated. “To a man, we think we can do this thing. We think we have an opportunity to do something special, and he wants to be a part of it. There’s a long way left, a lot of baseball left. But we’ve got to play day by day. And today’s game is really important. He wants to be a part of it.”
Anderson hopes to return to shortstop quickly.
“We’ll see how the shoulder keeps feeling and take it day by day,” he stated.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com