Citing fatigue, manager Rick Renteria gave shortstop Tim Anderson a day off Thursday following a night game in which Anderson made one error on a sharply hit ground ball and misplayed a bloop fly that fell for a single.
“He’s tired. He deserves a break,” Renteria said.
Since coming off the injured list July 30 after rehabbing a high ankle sprain, Anderson had played in every game. He leads the American League with 24 hits in August and is batting .329 with 14 homers, 60 runs scored, 47 RBI and 16 stolen bases.
“He’s been on base a lot,” Renteria said. “Coming back off his rehab, he was working very hard trying to get back. We put him straight into the lineup, just like we did with Eloy [Jimenez coming off the IL] and anybody else. He’s a little fatigued, so we’ll give him a breath.”
Anderson leads the major leagues with 24 errors. Whether being tired contributed to his miscues Wednesday was not known, but he was flat-footed when Miguel Sano’s smash went off his glove. Sano asked for time and was denied, which might caught Anderson off guard.
“All of a sudden, the ball is in flight, tough for him, as gifted as he is, still to react,” Renteria said. “He almost caught the ball, but it was more of a lesson learned. The umpires are the ones that are going to end up calling time. He’s fatigued a little bit and we want to make sure when we get him back out there, that he’s ready to go with everything he’s got.”
Anderson was out from June 26 to July 30 but still had five more errors than the Red Sox’ Rafael Devers and Orioles’ Jonathan Villar, who are tied for second. General manager Rick Hahn and Renteria have touted the former first-round draft pick as an “elite” shortstop because of his athleticism and range and lauded him for his improved play, part due to work with coach Joe McEwing, but there’s no getting around the error total.
“I’d have to go back and really break down for you whether they’re throwing or fielding errors and in some instances, what are the reasons,” Renteria said.
“We’ve had some games this year where he hasn’t seen balls off the bat, like most fielders that have ever played the infield, there are some balls that sometimes in certain situations you really don’t see coming off the bat. Whether it’s glare, whatever the case might be. But for the most part, he does everything he can to put himself in a good position to play a really good defensive shortstop. I don’t see myself having anybody else out there other than Timmy Anderson. As long as he continues to range, and do all the things that he does, I want him out there playing shortstop for me every single day.”
Anderson trusts his work ethic and says he’ll keep after it. After the game Wednesday, an 8-2 Sox loss to the Twins, he played down the bad day in the field (he was 2-for-4 at the plate).
“I’m going to go to bed and wake up tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t think about it. It happens. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
