Chicago White Sox All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson was originally set to miss the opening three games of the upcoming season due to an incident that happened during a contest against the Detroit Tigers late last campaign. That situation involved Anderson making contact with umpire Tim Timmons.
Here's the video of Tim Anderson and Umpire Tim Timmons in the scuffle pic.twitter.com/NQOwtj0vKN
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) September 29, 2021
Tim Anderson has been suspended three games by MLB, announced in a release that says he made contact with umpire Tim Timmons when benches cleared in the ninth inning of Monday’s game. He has appealed his suspension. pic.twitter.com/br01xsVqqe
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) September 29, 2021
However, ESPN's Jesse Rogers reports Anderson had that ban reduced to two games on an appeal. The 28-year-old, thus, will be unavailable for matchups at the Tigers on April 8 and April 9 because he appealed last fall and was permitted to participate in the postseason tournament.
Anderson, who somewhat defended his actions at the time, confirmed Thursday's update via Twitter:
Tim Anderson re his suspension, says Tim Timmons pushed him first so Anderson pushed back. Says he didn’t realize it was an ump with all the chaos until after the fact. But does admit to pushing him.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 1, 2021
They gave me 2 game suspension and 10k fine ….
— Seven (@TimAnderson7) March 31, 2022
According to Tim Stebbins of NBC Chicago and R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, Leury Garcia will likely fill in for Anderson late next week.
Anderson, meanwhile, slashed .309/.338/.469 with 17 home runs, 61 RBI and 18 stolen bases across 123 regular-season games last year. The White Sox could also be without outfielder and slugger Andrew Vaughn on Opening Day as he works to recover from a hip pointer he suffered this past Sunday that could keep him out of the lineup for up to two weeks.
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