A week ago, former Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels on a minor league deal. He will be part of the team's Spring Training camp and hopes to make it to the Opening Day roster.
On Wednesday, he opened up about his batting struggles in recent years.
Last year, Anderson signed a one-year $5 million deal with the Miami Marlins after having an unproductive campaign with the White Sox. His stay in Miami was cut short as he continued to struggle and was released from the team in July, having played just 65 games for them.
The nine-year MLB veteran now finds himself on the Angels' roster on a minor league deal. Speaking on the Foul Territory podcast, the former American League batting champion claims he 'lost the feel' at the plate. He pointed out his injuries as well and how that threw him off.
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I went through a couple injuries. I think the last injury that I went was when I did the MCL. Once I came back, the feel was just different. I lost the feel. I had a hand injury… I had other personal things going on as well.
Tim Anderson saidThe 2-time MLB All-Star has managed to hit just one home run in the last two years. From the 2019 to the 2022 season, Anderson had four straight years where he batted with an average of .300.
This has taken a hit in the last couple of years, with last season's .214 being his lowest batting average in his MLB career. Despite these setbacks, he is confident of bouncing back and claims that he is ready to 'rake' in 2025.
Tim Anderson claims going through 's**t' before fight with Jose Ramirez in 2023
Tim Anderson did not have a good time in the 2023 season. After being restricted to just 79 games in the 2022 season due to injuries, he was hoping to bounce back in 2023. One of the biggest moments for him that year came when he got into an altercation with Jose Ramirez (which he lost). He would reflect on this on Wednesday and claimed that he was going through some 's**t' before the fight.
Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson fight (Image via X)In the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox on August 5, 2023, Ramirez slid onto the second base and was tagged hard by Anderson. The Guardians' star took an exception for this and stood up.
The situation escalated after the two players started throwing punches at each other. Ramirez would connect with a strong punch that would send Anderson down on the ground.
I was going through shit before that moment that was probably the energy and the vibes to be able to get it tap into that energy. Moments happen and that's something that we got to live with.
Tim Anderson said on Foul Territory podcastBoth players along with their managers were ejected from this game. Fans on the internet would go into a frenzy following this fight.
Anderson was slapped with a 6-game suspension while Ramirez could a three-match ban which was later reduced to two on appeal. The Guardians star did try to apologize to him but Anderson did not respond to him.
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Vinay Dave is a Sub-Editor of US Sports at FirstSportz. He currently crafts topics on Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL) and Golf. A journalism graduate from Mumbai, Vinay currently has over 3 years of experience writing and has over 1,500+ articles under his belt. In his free time he can spotted passionately supporting Manchester City, watching some action-packed anime or singing along to the melodies of Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Freddie Mercury.