White Sox’ Tim Anderson officially qualifies for batting title: ‘I’ve come a long way’

Shortstop Tim Anderson is not one to back down from a challenge.

When people were critical of his bat flips at the start of the season, he brushed off the haters. When MLB left him out of a Twitter poll this month about the best bat flips, he clapped back.

Now Anderson, who has a major-league-leading .334 average, is competing for a batting title.

With an infield single in the third inning of the White Sox’ 11-0 loss to the Indians on Tuesday, Anderson met the required 502 plate appearances to be officially eligible for the award.

And he’s determined to end this season a winner.

“It would mean a lot,” he said. “You better believe I’m going out and trying to get it. I’ve made it this far, so why not?”

Anderson is on pace to have one of the highest year-to-year average improvements in Sox history after batting .240 last season.

“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “If I win or if I don’t, it’s still not going to take away from the season that I’ve had. [I’m] trying to keep carrying it on to next year and continue to do what I’ve been doing.”

Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, who’s hitting .328, is second behind Anderson in the American League batting race.

Spoiler alert

The Sox might be eliminated from the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean, in their eyes, that they’re playing meaningless baseball in the last week of the regular season.

The Sox are hoping to play spoiler against the Indians, who are battling for a playoff berth.

“These games are just as big for us as any game; I don’t like to use the word spoiler, but that’s what everybody’s going to say,” catcher James McCann said.

After the Indians leave town, the Sox will host the Tigers for a four-game series — including a doubleheader Friday — to finish the season. Though the Tigers are out of playoff contention, McCann said it’s important for the Sox to head into the offseason on a positive note to set the tone for next season.

“[That’s] going to be important for us — continuing to create the culture that we’ve created here — and hopefully it carries over this offseason with whatever additions we make to this team and then into spring training and next year,” McCann said.

Manager Rick Renteria said he’s taking this week to evaluate what went wrong this season. Then he’s turning his attention to 2020.

“Looking to try to finish positively, that these guys continue to push themselves and put your mind forward because, to be honest, as soon as our regular season is over, I’m already thinking about the spring,” Renteria said.

Guess who’s back

In his first game since he had surgery on his right hamate bone last month, Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez made his presence felt at Guaranteed Rate Field.

In his first at-bat since Aug. 24, Ramirez hit a grand slam to give the Indians a 4-0 lead. Then in the third inning, he hit a three-run homer to put his team up 8-0.

His seven RBI were a career high.