Tim Anderson got a taste of second base this spring playing for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.
Sidelined a majority of the time since exiting Saturday’s game in Seattle with right shoulder soreness — a pinch-hitting appearance Tuesday the exception — the Chicago White Sox shortstop moved to second so he could return to action Friday against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
He originally wasn’t in 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,’ ” manager Pedro Grifol said shortly after the Sox made the lineup switch. “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 discussed it with Anderson and general manager Rick Hahn and inserted him at second, hitting second in the lineup.
“Don’t read too much into it,” Grifol said. “He wants to be a part of the lineup tonight. After the game we’ll evaluate it as if he wasn’t playing, see where his arm is and make a decision on where he plays 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.”
Grifol said the length of the throw in the hole is one reason he could play second Friday and not 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 said. “I asked him, ‘Can you make it?’ and he said ‘There’s a possibility but I haven’t done it yet in practice.’
“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 said Anderson’s WBC experience is helpful. He played five games at second during the event. Overall, he slashed .333/.381/.500 with a double, triple, five RBIs and three runs in six WBC games.
“Him doing that makes him feel comfortable over there,” Grifol said. “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.’ ”
A two-time All-Star, Anderson is slashing .249/.290/.292 with nine doubles, 10 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 52 games. He was on the injured list 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 said. “Everybody goes through something like this at some point in time in your career. Nobody’s exempt from adversity at the major-league level, playing against the best in the world every single night, 162 (games), for years and years. Unfortunately he had that injury, he battled through not being comfortable and losing the feel of his legs and his body.
“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 career big-league starts at shortstop. Friday marked his first at second.
Grifol commended Anderson for giving it a go.
“He wants to be a part of this,” Grifol said. “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.”
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