White Sox SS's brutal season continues with significant suspension

While his counterpart — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez — was docked three games and a host of others were suspended for one contest, Anderson will have to sit out half a dozen battles at some point in the near future. With less than 50 games on the White Sox regular season schedule, six contests are a significant chunk.

Of course, with Chicago (45-68) well out of the playoff picture, this shouldn't impact their postseason chances.

The punishment does continue what has been a brutal year for Anderson though.

The two-time All-Star and former batting champion has missed 26 games this season, including three weeks in April due to injury. Even when on the field, Anderson's numbers have been arguably the worst of his career.

The 30-year-old stunningly has just one home run and 19 RBIs in 353 at-bats covering 87 games, while his .244 batting average is nearly 40 points below his career average. Anderson's .285 on-base percentage is his worst figure since 2018 and his slugging percentage (.292) and OPS (.576) are both the lowest in his eight big league seasons by over 100 points.

What makes Anderson's struggles so surprising is that it's come after a torrid four-year stretch that's resulted in him being one of the best shortstops in the AL. Following his batting crown in 2019, the former first-round draft pick won a Silver Slugger Award in 2020, led the league in runs scored and finished seventh in the AL MVP voting.

Anderson then made back-to-back All-Star teams in 2021 and 2022 prior to this year's disaster.