The Chicago White Sox have been contenders in 2020 and 2021, and despite a mediocre 25-27 record so far, are expected to be players once again in 2022.
That wasn’t always the case: from 2013 to 2019, they were experiencing a long rebuild process and finished under .500 every year.
One of the players that helped change the franchise’s culture to a winning one was shortstop Tim Anderson.
He has been a big leaguer since 2016, but was actually drafted nine years ago, in 2013.
“#OTD in 2013, the White Sox selected @TimAnderson7 with the 17th overall pick in the MLB Draft,” Stoney on 35th tweeted this week.
#OTD in 2013, the White Sox selected @TimAnderson7 with the 17th overall pick in the MLB Draft.
— Stoney On 35th (@SoxOn35th) June 6, 2022
The tweet also had a video of the exact moment when Chicago took the dynamic shortstop, announced by former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.
A Key Player In The White Sox’s Lineup And Clubhouse
Anderson has been one of the most important players in the White Sox’s return to prominency.
He won the American League batting title in 2019, a Silver Slugger award in 2020, and was an All-Star for the first time last year.
He is no stranger to controversy, but that doesn’t really take anything away from him: he is an incredibly talented hitter who took a couple of years to really break out and find his stride.
From 2016 to 2018, his OPS was always below .740.
Everything clicked in 2019, when he was the AL’s Champion Bat, and since that year, he has always been above .800 OPS.
He can do everything on a baseball field: he can hit, has some power, has an adequate glove (despite a few ugly games in 2022), and is one of the clubhouse leaders.
He is also a fan favorite in the South Side.
Anderson’s rise to stardom has been one of the franchise-altering developments for Chicago in the past nine or ten years.
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