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Tim Anderson 2020 Outlook: Reigning Batting Champ To Prove 2019 Wasn't A Fluke
5 years agoTim Anderson started his 2019 season as good as anyone with eight homers, 13 stolen bases and a .320 BA through the first six weeks of the year. An ankle injury in mid-May limited the 26-year-old to four thefts the rest of the way, but his .357 BA post-injury helped crown him MLB's batting champion despite finishing with the worst walk rate in the AL (2.9%). Entering 2019 as a career .258 hitter, Anderson paired his lifetime best 37.3% Hard Hit% with a balanced approach that seen him take more balls than ever to the opposite field (29.4%) at a line drive rate that also set a new personal high (28.4%). A particularly inflated .399 BABIP and .294 xBA suggest regression will come in 2020, but the drop-off may not be as significant if he can maintain his high-contact approach at the dish. Providing Anderson can play more than 123 games in 2020, he will undoubtedly build on his 18 HR, 81 R, 56 RBI 2019 campaign, especially on a much improved White Sox lineup. The former first-round pick will likely insert himself into the top-third of the batting order where his counting stats will flourish ahead of the run-producing bats of Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion.
