After 419 plate appearances, Tim Anderson’s career-long homerless streak ended three pitches into his first at-bat of Saturday night’s 7-2 win over the Guardians.
And it ended emphatically.
Re-inserted into the leadoff spot by a night off for Andrew Benintendi, Anderson clubbed a Logan Allen fastball 429 feet to left field, with the sort of true pull-side power swing not seen from the White Sox (43-63) shortstop since 2021.
“I was more so worried about getting my swing back, not really worried about homers,” said Anderson, who collected three hits. “You’ve got to get in your legs. It was at a point where I was feeling I wasn’t in them. I kept working and still working trying to master it.”
A mob scene in the Sox dugout, where Anderson’s teammates hid in the tunnel to the clubhouse before swarming him in celebration, suggests the drought was on everyone’s mind more than the two-time All-Star let on. Despite 10 multi-hit games in July, Anderson (.245/.286/.293) is still mired in the worst offensive season of his career.
“He’s battled some injuries that I truly believe have hampered him not only this year, but last year as well,” said manager Pedro Grifol. “He had that [knee] injury in Minnesota. That affected his stride. He’ll sit here and probably tell you there’s no excuses, but I can talk for him. Sometimes it just throws your balance off, your mechanics off.”
Anderson is too central to the Sox for his struggles to not be a significant part of their disappointing season and sell-off, but the 30-year-old insists he’s remained confident throughout.
“I’m definitely a step closer to feeling back fully healthy,” Anderson said. “I think you go through these moments to kind of see what’s on the other side. Go through these moments to learn, these moments to tap into something different.”
Lee comes recommended
Even as he returned to the lineup and lifted his 13th home run Saturday night, Andrew Vaughn will be playing through soreness for a while caused by a bone bruise in his left foot. But his spirits are buoyed by the potential of teaming up with former college roommate Korey Lee, acquired from the Astros for Kendall Graveman on Friday.
“He’s a really good catcher,” said Vaughn. “He’s got a cannon behind the plate. He’s good back there. He’s a good hitter, he’s got a lot of pop.”
Lee hit .283/.328/.406 this season in an offense-friendly environment at Triple-A Sugarland, and is currently rehabbing from an oblique injury. But Grifol was explicit in that Lee should be expected to play in Chicago this year.
“Athletic, he can really throw, he has some pop in his bat,” said Grifol. “I think we did really well there. It’s an area of need for us that we addressed here in the last couple of days.”
Not enough focus from Colás
On top of posting a sub-.500 OPS at the plate since being recalled from Triple-A earlier this month, Grifol is not seeing the defense he wants from rookie Oscar Colás, who has committed three errors in right field this series.
“He makes a lot of mistakes out there, and they’re careless mistakes that we have to continue to clean up,” said Grifol. “You’ve just got to make sure you stay on top of him at all times. And you’ve got to hold him accountable.”