Leadoff man Tim Anderson has injected speed and power to the top of the Sox lineup, both welcome assets, but he has yet to draw a walk through 78 major league plate appearances.
Seventy-eight times up, zero walks. That’s a lot of aggressiveness.
It stands to reason Anderson will need an on-base percentage that’s higher than his batting average (.286) to fill the bill as an ideal leadoff man, but the White Sox are letting their 23-year-old shortstop be who he is – at least for now.
“You want him to find his way,’’ manager Robin Ventura said. “You don’t want to pull the reins in on him too much. He brings an energy and excitement to it, even leading off.’’
While continuing to play capable defense at a premium position, Anderson brought two singles, one of the infield variety, and a stolen base in the Sox’ disheartening 4-0 loss to the American League Central’s last-place Minnesota Twins (25-51) before 22,072 fans at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday night. When he came up with two runners on and two outs in the seventh inning — Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson got him to chase two sliders down and away. Anderson then rolled over one on a chopper to third baseman Trevor Plouffe for an inning-ending force out.
It’s the type of pitch and situation the Sox hope Anderson learns to improve on with experience. They like the Anderson first, Adam Eaton second pairing at the top of the lineup, and Ventura said Anderson, as he sees more pitches and becomes comfortable with major league pitching, might develop into a more patient hitter. Time will tell.
“Leading him off because he’s a good hitter,’’ Ventura said, “but as far as him taking pitches and working counts, that might not be him right now but he’s doing things well enough that you would like for him to learn that on his own.’’
Anderson, who has struck out 24 times, recorded his eighth multihit game, tying five others for the most by a Sox through his first 17 games. That he’s looking for his first walk isn’t a huge shock, considering his minor league numbers: Eight walks in 256 plate appearances at AAA Charlotte this season and 24 in 550 at AA Birmingham last season.
“I know he swings a lot,’’ Ventura said.
The Sox didn’t swing with a lot of authority against Gibson (1-5, 5.12 ERA), who pitched seven scoreless innings. The Sox were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and are 12-for-98 (.122) in the last 12 games.
“I was chasing out of the zone, and I looked terrible up there,’’ said Todd Frazier, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, his average falling to .198. “We did a lot of chasing today, and he got us.’’
The Sox, 12-19 in the AL Central, have lost 16 of the last 19 in the division and lost to the Twins after opening 6-0 against them.
As always, left-hander Jose Quintana (5-8, 3.18) got poor run support and had no chance to win giving up two homers by Brian Dozier, one a three-run shot with two outs in the sixth after he walked left-handed hitting Joe Mauer on four pitches.
Quintana said he wasn’t pitching around Mauer, he just lost him. Against Dozier, “I tried to go backdoor curve; it was a bad pitch,’’ Quintana said.
Despite an ERA that has ranked among the AL leaders all season long, Quintana hasn’t won since he beat the Twins on May 8, a span covering nine starts with seven losses and two no-decisions. He has received a total of nine runs of support from the Sox lineup during that stretch.
The Sox , who came in with five wins in their last seven games against the Red Sox and Blue Jays, fell to 38-39.
Left fielder Melky Cabrera left in the seventh inning with soreness in his left wrist. Cabrera hurt the wrist in Cleveland two weekends ago. Cabrera is day to day.
