Will Anderson eventually thrive as White Sox's No. 2 hitter?
Nothing in baseball comes easy, and that is doubly true with hitting second in the lineup.
In the No. 2 hole, making consistent contact is critical, whether it's hitting the ball the other way, pulling a mistake pitch or laying down a bunt.
Taking pitches is also key, especially when the leadoff hitter is on base and the game situation calls for a stolen base.
Most good No. 2 hitters are veterans with thousands of plate appearances under their belts.
Tim Anderson, who is batting second for the White Sox to start this season, has 435 through Tuesday's season opener against Detroit.
The Sox-Tigers game scheduled for Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field was rained out.
Down the road, Anderson should be equipped to thrive at the top of the Sox's lineup, either at No. 2 or out of the leadoff spot.
But even with a new six-year, $25 million contract extension, the 23-year-old shortstop is still very raw as a hitter.
Anderson did slash .283/.306/.432 in 99 games while finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting last season, but he struck out in almost 30 percent of his plate appearances while walking just 3 percent of the time.
Against Justin Verlander and Detroit Tuesday, Anderson was 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts.
"(Verlander) had good stuff today," Anderson after going 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts against the Tigers' ace. "It was definitely hard to lay off. But it's one of those things where you've got to come out and keep competing and keep getting after it."
Anderson never got down when he was striking out in bunches last season, and his willingness to keep working should eventually pay off as the Sox's No. 2 hitter.
"One of the things that everybody's talked about with him is his on-base (percentage)," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "Everybody talks about walks. This guy swings the bat and puts the bat on the ball pretty well and he ends up getting pretty good results. I think for the most part, experience and time will help him continue to cultivate recognizing pitches.
"He's young. A lot of us in many instances back in the day would play winter ball to go see a lot more breaking balls and sliders and changeups and you'd go through a time frame where that would kind of speed up your process. As they're trying to do it at the major-league level, everybody has to understand that they're going to see pitches and they're going to start to adapt. He's going to have to continue to work through that process to give himself a chance to have good at-bats and swing at strikes."