ATLANTA — Tim Anderson went into the second half of the season Friday still battling the worst slump of his career. And White Sox manager Pedro Grifol went in still wholeheartedly backing the former batting champ and All-Star, who was 2-for-23 in his previous five games and 11-for-88 over his last 22.
“I trust him,” Grifol said of his shortstop, who went 2-for-4 with singles in the fourth and seventh innings in Friday’s series opener against the Braves but also grounded into a game-ending double play. “I believe he’s going to turn this thing around and be the player he’s always been. Why not? Why shouldn’t he be? He works his ass off. He’s out there early, took 45-50 minutes of batting practice. He thinks this game. He’s smart. Why wouldn’t he be able to get out of whatever is going on?”
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of Anderson’s last home run. He missed the last 55 games of last season with a tear in his left middle finger and also missed three weeks in April and May with a knee sprain.
“It’s just a mechanical thing [where] maybe he doesn’t feel right,” Grifol said. “He’s always hit. And he’s going to hit again.”
Although it might make more sense to let Anderson work things out in the bottom third of the lineup, Grifol doesn’t view it that way.
“There’s no need to take him out of that [No. 2] spot,” he said.
All better now, Robert says
After missing the All-Star Game with tightness in his right calf, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. said he felt “100%” and was in the starting lineup Friday, going 0-for-3. Robert came up sore during the first round of the Home Run Derby on Monday.
“I was feeling it, but it wasn’t something big, and I think the adrenaline kept me going,” he said through a translator.
“It could be because I didn’t have a good warmup or enough time to warm up. It was just a little tightness in there.”
Clevinger update
Right-hander Mike Clevinger, who hasn’t pitched since June 14 because of inflammation in his biceps, threw a bullpen session over the break and will throw two simulated innings in the bullpen Saturday in Atlanta, probably 20 pitches for the first and 15 for the second.
“Getting there,” said Clevinger, who has a 3.88 ERA in 12 starts.
He’d like to avoid a rehab outing, but the longer he’s out, the less likely that will be. He said he has made “a lot of progress,” but Grifol cautioned that progression depends on each step.
“Take it day by day,” Grifol said. “He clears that hurdle, we go to the next one. He’s moving along nicely. But we can’t run before we crawl.”
Hendriks happy on all counts
Sox closer Liam Hendriks on his speech Wednesday night at the ESPY Awards: “I’m happy with the final message, the one I really wanted to get across, and that’s reach out to people. That was something that got conveyed pretty well.”
Hendriks, a cancer survivor, accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. He has been on the injured list since June 11 with elbow inflammation and won’t rush his return.
“It’s coming along,” he said. “There’s a semi-quasi schedule out there doing that. It’s taking it day by day, making sure it comes back, responds well, and we’ll go from there.
“There’s always progress. It just needs to be bearable and that’s all I’m looking for right now.”
