Mattingly not worried about Anderson slump
Rookie of the Year award remains in reach
MIAMI — Look at the numbers and it’s easy to see why Derek Jeter thinks Brian Anderson should be the front-runner for Rookie of the Year.
The National League’s rookie leader in hits (127), runs (63), RBI (53) and doubles (26) entering Saturday night, Anderson has been in the midst of a stellar debut — something that’s caught the eye of the Marlins’ CEO, a former Rookie of the Year himself.
“[Anderson] should be at the top of the [Rookie of the Year] list,” Jeter told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s the bottom line. What he’s been able to do from Day 1 in this organization and the consistency he’s shown. You have to realize he’s a third baseman and he’s playing right field. That’s not easy to do.”
While the 25 year old, who’s hitting .283 on the year, has been one of the team’s most productive players, Anderson has gone through a tough August. Through the first eight games of the month, the outfielder is hitting .233 and has gone 2 for 15 in his past four games.
“They’re throwing the ball a little more in on him and up,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “One of the things you saw early in the year — they tried to spin him a lot and that worked for a little, but he made adjustments. Now they’re trying to elevate the ball on him more and I think he can hit the high ball, but you get velocity up there it’s a tough pace to hit. Either you learn to hit better or you leave it alone.”
Despite the recent stretch, Mattingly isn’t worried about Anderson — the team’s third-round draft pick in 2014. Part of that comes back to a conversation the two had about hitting during Spring Training in 2017.
“He talked about approach and what he was trying to do and that tells me he’s on the right track to making adjustments and what he wants to do,” Mattingly said. “He has a swing that kind of works all over the field.
“As his approach continues to grow, I think he’s going to keep getting better. I think he’ll hit for more power. He’s a guy who’s shown he can be consistent — he’s played pretty much every day. So there’s not a whole lot of talk unless we see him get really frustrated. I’ve seen a couple times where I thought it was going there, but then he goes out and throws out a couple of hits and he goes back on track.”