Brian Anderson’s frustrating season hits another level after second shoulder injury
For the third time this season, Miami Marlins third baseman Brian Anderson has been sidelined with an injury.
This one very well might end his season.
The Marlins on Friday prior to their home game against the Philadelphia Phillies placed Anderson on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder subluxation, the same injury he suffered back in May that sidelined him for two months.
Should this end his season, and it’s likely considering there’s only one month left, it’ll be the second time in the past three years Anderson ended a season on the injured list. He missed the final month of the 2019 season with a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand after being hit by a pitch.
That injury in 2019 and the three setbacks this year are the only times Anderson has been on the IL during his MLB career.
The latest injury came when he dived to his right on a ground ball in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ eventual 6-5 walk-off loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday to start a doubleheader at Citi Field.
“He was frustrated the other day on that dive and felt it after the game,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We had a feeling that this would be an IL. We hope it’s a short scan. ... He’s feeling better than he did last time, so I guess that’s good news but we’ll just see where it goes. So I’m sure Andy’s frustrated, obviously. We all are.”
For the season, Anderson is hitting .249 with nine doubles, seven home runs, 28 RBI and 24 runs scored in 67 games. His .715 on-base-plus-slugging is on pace to be the lowest of his career in his four seasons in which he had at least 200 plate appearances.
Anderson’s season has been broken down into three stretches due to injuries:
▪ April 1-April 20: .200 batting average (12 for 60 with three doubles, one home run, five RBI, three runs scored and 15 strikeouts in 16 games (15 starts) before being sidelined for 11 with a left oblique strain.
▪ May 4-May 24: .297 batting average (19 for 64 with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI, 10 runs scored and 21 strikeouts in 19 games (18 starts) before being sidelined for 51 games with his first left shoulder subluxation. Anderson had at least one hit in all but four games in this stretch, including three multi-hit games.
▪ July 24-Aug. 31: .248 batting average (27 for 109) with three doubles, four home runs, 17 RBI, 11 runs scored and 28 strikeouts in 32 games (30 starts). This stretch includes his 2 for 4 outing in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with the Mets, a game that was a resumption of a game started on April 11.
“His season has really been chopped up,” Mattingly said. “It’s hard to get any kind of rhythm like that, so it’s been a tough year for him. ... When that happens, it’s really hard on guys because you go into the year with goals. You want to accomplish X and usually those goals aren’t based around 40 games or 50 games. They’re based around 150 games.”
After returning from the first shoulder injury, Anderson said he wanted to do what he could to finish the season on a high note even though playing time has been erratic due to the injuries.
“Losing time like I did,” Anderson said last week, “you just want to feel like you’re back in the swing of things and I feel like I’m finally kind of getting in my routine again of knowing how much time I need before games. ... It’s fun to come back to me little bit by little bit. I’m just trying to get as consistent with it as I can.”
And this stop-and-go season has made it tricky at points for first-year Marlins general manager Kim Ng to get a true evaluation on Anderson. This offseason, when asked about potential contract extension talks with Anderson, Ng said she wanted to see Anderson up close for a season before beginning contract talks.
“It is hard,” Ng said Thursday. “The good thing is that he came back and we were able to see him in a little bit of a better window so I sort of have an idea of what the high side is and then where some of his lower points are, but it was great for me to be able to see that range.”
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