Kade Anderson’s Ascension Will Make for Tough Decisions for the Mariners
Kade Anderson of the AA Affiliate Arkansas Travelers (Photo Credit: MLB.com)
We live in a great baseball world where pitching is supreme. Just look at the generational run we are witnessing for the National League CY Young from the likes of aces Cristopher Sanchez and Shohei Ohtani. There are teams that have more depth than others and the pitching is superior. The teams that come to mind are the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, and also the Mariners. The way that the Mariners have had to operate with their rotation has been interesting and that conversation only gets louder given the ascension of Kade Anderson in the minor league systems.
Did the Mariners need a pitcher third overall? Probably not. Although, they are in a very good spot with their position players; Colt Emerson and Cole Young have been fantastic for the big league club. Julio Rodriguez has been great and the offense is clicking. They’ve formed a nice core at the plate via trades and the org has fine-tuned a pitching development factory. When you draft as high as you do you don’t draft for need, you take the best player available and the Mariners made the best pick available in their slot.
Kade Anderson was an electric college talent and the best pitcher in his draft class. He helped lead the LSU Tigers to winning the College World Series with a historic performance. He pitched a complete game shutout; he threw 130 pitches and punched out ten batters. Furthermore, he led Division I baseball in strikeouts with 180 and finished the season with a 3.12 ERA. He averaged 13.6 K/9 and only 2.6 BB/9. Anderson is now the top pitching prospect in the Mariners system and that caliber of pitcher we saw at the collegiate level has transferred right into Double-A.
The 21 year old didn’t even begin the season in High A, he was slated right into Double-A. He’s made nine starts and has pitched 44 innings. The numbers speak for themselves. He is rocking a 1.43 ERA to a 1.79 FIP and the base traffic is minimal. Anderson has a 0.75 WHIP and his .171 batting average against speaks volumes. In addition, he has struck out 67 batters and has only walked seven. SEVEN. You have to love a 41.9% strikeout rate and a 37.5 K-BB% if you are the Mariners organization. His season high for strikeouts in a single start is 11 and in back-to-back starts he punched out nine Ks.
Kate Anderson Stats Page/ TJStats.ca
When you look under the hood everything is at an elite level. He excels at getting swinging strikes which pairs nicely with his 97th percentile whiff rate. He can get you to chase outside the zone and truthfully, he isn’t afraid to attack the strike zone either. The strikeouts are there and he commands the baseball. He has a great four seam fastball that reaches up to 97 MPH and a devastating slider that has strong sweeping movement. Anderson is unafraid to throw it to both lefties and righties. He seems like a polished player, which is something the organization has highlighted.
“Kade is polished,” Dipoto said last July. “He’s already pitched at the highest level, at the College World Series, and he’s done it arguably as well as anybody in the country.”
It’s only a matter of time before Anderson reaches the AAA level and gets the call up to the Mariners by the end of the season. Or, they could take their time and wait until next season (assuming there’s no lockout).
The current Mariners rotation is already loaded with six guys for five spots. Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo are ultimately the big trio this season. Emerson Hancock performed extremely well when he had the green light with Bryce Miller out of the lineup. Hancock has a 2.80 ERA and an 0.95 WHIP.
What’s been a tough matter is the handling of Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. It’s hard to tell Hancock to go to the bullpen when he’s pitching well. As of right now, Castillo and Miller are piggybacking off one another. One could move to the bullpen, but if they ever plan to activate Anderson, this conversation becomes difficult. It’s a good problem to have, but these are players that have competitive fire and want to pitch. However, given the ceiling that Anderson has and how good he has been, the doorbell is going to get rung sooner rather than later.