MINNEAPOLIS — Tim Anderson sat quietly by his locker Tuesday, hours after he landed on the injured list with a sprained left knee. The dejection and frustration were obvious for the All-Star shortstop who worked hard in the offseason to prepare for the season.
On Wednesday, he was on the field, taking ground balls on his knees from coach Eddie Rodriguez.
Anderson wants to be back as soon as possible and he wants to be great, like MVP great. He won a batting title in 2020 and was seventh in American League MVP voting the following year.
The expectation is that Anderson will be out 2-4 weeks. Teammates and coaches passed by Anderson Tuesday, some with an encouraging word. Coach Daryl Boston merely put his hand on Anderson’s shoulder as he passed by without saying anything.
Veteran Elvis Andrus, who is taking over for Anderson at shortstop, took a knee at Anderson’s locker and talked at length. Andrus and Anderson have had many conversations during spring training and in the first two weeks of the season, many filled with laughter. This was not one of those.
“I’ve spoken to him as well, and he’s a professional,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s going to get through this, he’s going to come back and he’s going to be a part of this club for the majority of the season. Just got to get through it.”
Anderson quietly talked with reporters Tuesday, then cut it off after about five or six questions, the perspiration building on his forehead revealing his emotion.
“Yep, just a weird situation,” he said of getting banged into by Twins base runner Matt Wallner. “I tried to prevent it. You can’t control it. You can’t control injury.
“Everybody in the organization knows I was doing everything I could to try to stay healthy and it just didn’t work out that way.”
Anderson trained at Driveline Baseball in Seattle to work on his swing. He trained four days a week in the offseason and led a group of younger players, showing them how to lead.
He was back to his old self this spring and during the first two weeks, upbeat, talkative and energetic after quietly going through 2022, much of it while on the injured list. In the Sox’ first 11 games, his defense was good, and his offense better. He hasn’t homered in 11 games but he batted .298/.327/.404 five doubles, five stolen bases in five attempts and nine runs scored.
“It’s so frustrating,” he said.
The Sox are 0-2 without Anderson after Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Twins. There are 149 games to go, and possibly 30 or so coming up without him. Yoan Moncada (back) did not play Wednesday and Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) is on the injured list, although he could come off as soon as Friday when the Sox open a weekend home series against the Orioles.
“Just keep on [going],” Anderson said. “They got to.”
Time for others to step up.
“If you prepared in the offseason, you’ve prepared in spring training, here’s your opportunity, go get it,” Grifol said. “You’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity and perform, make decisions really hard on us when it comes time to make decisions when these guys are all back.”
