Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Anderson defies numbers
The usual metrics can’t explain rookie’s success
MIAMI — Brian Anderson did not know what failure felt like. In high school, he cruised to a scholarship at Arkansas. In college, he swung his way into the third round of the MLB draft. Even in his first summer as a professional, Anderson bashed in Batavia and Greensboro.
But the lessons learned years ago in the minors — in failing, in fading and in declining — have helped Anderson become one of the most productive rookies in the majors this season.
The Marlins right fielder (and sometimes third baseman) leads all rookies in hits and batting average. Anderson is tops among rookies in wins above replacement, according to both FanGraphs and BaseballReference. He’s been the Marlins’ second-best player this season, qui etly and consistently producing and setting up catcher J.T. Realmuto.
But how has he been doing it? How has the 25-year-old posted a .285/.361/.406 slash line in his first full season in the majors?
“He has a good feel for the strike zone, uses the whole field and he’s got pretty good mechanics,” Mar- manager Don Mattingly said. “It allows him to hit a lot of different styles of pitchers. He’s a guy that’s had a good approach. He walks up there every at-bat with some type of game plan.”
Anderson has been incredibly
consistent this season for Miami, no matter what situation the team has put him in. He started as someone slotted into the No. 4 or 5 hole in the lineup. He’s now up to hitting second. Anderson opened the season as the starting third baseman. He shifted to right field when Martin Prado returned to the Marlins lineup and even stayed there once Prado got hurt again.
Through it all, Anderson’s longest hitless streak was four games in mid-April (he still walked twice and was hit by a pitch). Anderson has multiple hits in 27 of the 86 games he’s played, most on the team and among rookies.
But Anderson’s underlying numbers make it hard to pinpoint why he’s been so successful. Here are his advanced season statistics, followed by the league average:
Anderson has been slightly above-average by walking more and striking out less than the average major leaguer. But not by much, and not enough to lead to the head-turning offensive numbers he’s put up this season.
According to FanGraphs, Anderson hits the ball hard 40.7 percent of the time, which ranks 46th out of 162 qualified major league hitters. His average exit velocity is 90.5 mph — according to Statcast — which puts him 60th out of 280 ranked batters. Both figures are good, sure, but can’t explain why he’s been worth about the same WAR (2.3) as traded Marlins outfielders Christian Yelich (2.4) and Giarcarlo Stanton (2.3).
But Anderson does a number of things well, and he does them consistently. Anderson’s season has been devoid of slumps, and both he and Marlins coaches credit his approach and preparation — something that stemmed from a lackluster 2015 season with High-A Jupiter in which Anderson hit .235 and struggled for the first time in his baseball life.
“It takes a point in time of you actually failing to understand that this game is hard and realizing that, and accepting it,” Anderson said. “The only things you can control are what you do day in and day out to prepare for games. When the game comes, you know you’re going to make plays, sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you’re going to get hits, sometimes you’re not. But your preparation can always be the same.”
Mattingly discussed how Anderson’s game-planning allowed his plate discipline and mechanics to thrive. Marlins hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo said Anderson’s consistency was his best attribute two weeks from the All-Star break.
Pagliarulo also marveled at Anderson’s ability to maintain his mechanics at the plate despite changing positions defensively between right field and third base.
“You’re using different muscles in the outfield than when you play the infield,” Pagliarulo said. “Your arm is going to be tired. Your legs are going to be different. You move in different ways. That makes the mechanics more difficult. The fact that he’s keeping it pretty close and similar and keeping it competitive, he’s done a very, very good job at it.”
Since 2015, that lackluster season in the Florida State League, Anderson said he’s grown to understand the game more and he quickly rose through the Marlins system. He started 2016 in Jupiter and ended 2017 in the major leagues with the Marlins.
The Marlins envision Anderson as a large piece of their future, one whose offense profiles in both right field and at third base.
“You have a bad game, and you have a bad week, sometimes you have a bad month, but that doesn’t define you as a baseball player,” Anderson said. “What defines you is your entire season, how you are not just as a player, but as a teammate and really just as a person overall. Having that bad season actually kind of helped me prepare me for the successful seasons I’ve had after, just knowing how to fail and know that doesn’t define you as a person.”