Brian Anderson hitting his stride as Marlins reach halfway point of the season
Brian Anderson trotted around the bases in the third inning on Friday, celebrating his 11th home run of the season that helped spark the Miami Marlins to a series-opening win against the Philadelphia Phillies.
His quietly impressive month of June continues.
Another multi-hit game. Another home run.
And another reminder of what Anderson brings to this team when he is playing near his peak, which he has been doing for the better part of the past month as the Marlins reach the halfway point of the 2019 season.
In 25 games this month heading into Saturday, Anderson is hitting .292 with six home runs, eight doubles, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored. He has eight multi-hit games in that span and has raised his season batting average 19 points in that span from .232 to .251. His slugging has increased by 68 points (.350 to .418).
Anderson’s performance on Friday — highlighted by an RBI double to the center-field wall in the first inning to open scoring and his two-run home run to right in the third — was just his second multi-hit game at home over his recent offensive surge. It was also just the third time he hit a home run at Marlins Park this year. The first two came in back-to-back days on April 13 and 14, also coincidentally against the Phillies.
“I think everybody knows that this is a tough park,” Anderson said. “So you’ve got to stay within yourself, and try to barrel the ball the best you can, and try to aim for the gaps. I was able to kind of sneak one out to right. Not really changing anything. Just trying to stay with the process, and try to get as many barrels as I can.”
Barreling the ball hasn’t been a problem. Anderson’s hard hit rate, defined by Statcast as the percentage of balls in play with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, is a team-high 47.8 percent. His overall average exit velocity of 90.3 mph is tied with Harold Ramirez, Garrett Cooper and Jorge Alfaro for the team lead.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly attributes Anderson’s success as of late to having help ahead of him in the lineup in the form of Cooper, Ramirez and Miguel Rojas.
The Marlins’ top four players in the lineup are hitting a collective .322 in June.
▪ Cooper, generally batting third, is hitting .388 with four doubles and four home runs this month.
▪ Rojas, who moved back to the leadoff spot on June 18 against the St. Louis Cardinals, is hitting .348 with 11 doubles in June.
▪ Ramirez, who generally bats second when in the lineup, is hitting .271.
The Marlins’ first four hitters in the lineup had six of Miami’s eight hits against the Phillies on Friday.
“We did a great job of keeping the pressure on,” Anderson said. “We didn’t really give them many innings off. It seemed like we always had threats, where we had guys in scoring position, and we were getting hits. Constantly putting pressure on their defense and their pitcher. Guys are putting together quality at-bats.”
It sets the tone early, allowing Anderson to focus on putting a ball in play and not overthinking about how his at-bat will make or break the game.
“Andy put a lot of pressure on himself early on. We weren’t scoring and he felt like ‘I’ve got to do more,’” Mattingly said. “That just doesn’t work. It never really works. Now, we’ve gotten to the point where Harold is on base and Coop is on base. [Neil Walker] was hot right before he got hurt. And then Andy was able to blend in and be part of the guys.”
And for Anderson, a 26-year-old third baseman/right fielder the Marlins see as a key piece of their future, sometimes blending in and not doing too much might be all he needs to do for the time being.
“Just get your hits,” Mattingly said. “With that, comes some damage.”
Anderson is getting his hits again.
This story was originally published June 29, 2019 at 3:44 PM.
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