Brian Anderson expects big results out of himself this season. His manager does, too.
The fact that it's only 60 games and will be lined with uncertainty while playing under the cloud of the coronavirus pandemic doesn't change that.
The Miami Marlins' third baseman is doing whatever he can to take his game to the next level heading into his third full Major League season. He's leaning on what he learned from a breakout 2019 season that ended a month early due to injury and the veterans the Marlins have added to the clubhouse to ensure his goals become reality.
"I think he's been getting better and better," manager Don Mattingly said.
Anderson also hopes that improvement continues with him in a Marlins uniform. While he is still under team control through the end of the 2023 season, Anderson expressed interest Thursday in staying with the club long-term.
"They've obviously given me an incredible opportunity here so I would love to stay here," said Anderson, who the Marlins drafted in the third round of the 2014 MLB Draft. "That's obviously something that is gonna have to be worked out. That's something that I'm not really focused on this year, especially with the shortened season. We're more focused on like what's going on here now. But yeah, long term, I've always been a Marlin, I would love to stay a Marlin.
"I love the direction that we're going. I love getting to hear Derek talk about expecting to win," he said. "That's something that he's drilled into our brains that when we show up, we're expecting to win, and that's something that I think these younger guys really respect and that they're getting on board with. That's something that that can grow and build and we can, you know, start making some special here."
Anderson followed up a 2018 season in which he finished four in National League Rookie of the Year voting with a 2019 season that saw him set career-best marks in home runs (20) and RBI (66) while also posting a .261 batting average with 33 doubles (one shy of a career high) and 57 runs scored.
And he accomplished all this despite missing the final 35 games of the season after fracturing the fifth metacarpal in his left hand in a win against the Philadelphia Phillies in late August.
"If the injury doesn't happen last year late, he ends up being a 25 to 30 home run guy," Mattingly said. "And I think he's got all the attributes. I've talked about him a lot from the standpoint of he sees the ball good and controls the strike zone. He's got a good swing. He uses the whole field. Everything's there in place."
Now that he's physically healthy again, Anderson has turned his focus back to finding that next level in his game.
And he has some people inside the team to lean on.
Anderson said Thursday that he probably asks outfielder Corey Dickerson, the player with the most consistent track record for hitting, about 10 questions a day.
"Just about how to get ready in a shorter time. What can I do to be more consistent?" Anderson said. "That's something as a baseball player that you're always striving for is to just be as consistent as possible, especially whenever you've only got a 60-game season. You need to be ready every day."
Having Mattingly, one of the best hitters of his era during his playing days, as a manger is a bonus, too.
"It's incredible just having that wealth of knowledge at the top, and just being able to pick his brain whenever," Anderson said, "but most of the time, I'll take a swing and he tells me 'Hey do you feel this?' and he already knows what's going on."
Also likely to help Anderson: He'll have some experienced hitters around him in the lineup. Anderson figures to bat second in the lineup on a regular bases. Jonathan Villar, Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar will accompany him in the top four spots.
"Those types of guys are definitely gonna make our lineup just more well rounded and just tougher to pitch to. For me, I'm hoping that means I get more pitches to hit. Maybe we get some more guys on base and everything but at the end of the day, pitchers are still gonna attack me the same way that they always do. It's my job to make sure that I get those good pitches and I hit them."
