Kade Anderson’s Double-A debut on April 3 went well enough: four innings, no runs, five hits, six strikeouts and a walk. The five hits he gave up were all singles, and two of those didn’t even leave the infield. But Anderson outdid himself in his second outing against Wichita Friday night. Anderson tossed five innings of no-hit ball while recording 11 strikeouts.
It wasn’t necessarily the cleanest start for Anderson, who opened his night striking out the first hitter he saw on three pitches but then
walked the next hitter he saw on four straight. But Anderson dialed it in for his next hitter, breaking off a nasty curve for his second strikeout of the inning en route to what would be 11 on the night.
Anderson sat 93-96 with his heater, riding it up in the zone for swinging strikes, and locking up hitters on the curveball for called strikes after peppering the top of the zone with the four-seamer. He worked quickly and efficiently, pounding the zone with 69% strikes (nice), and dominated the Wichita lineup. The only black mark on Anderson’s ledger was the two walks, first the four-pitch walk in the first and another in the third inning where he missed just inside in a 3-2 count and reacted like he’d just given up a go-ahead homer in the World Series:
(Kade. Buddy. We simply cannot get this wrapped around the axle about a singular, isolated walk in the second start of the season. I know you are the ultimate competitor but you’ve gotta give yourself some room to make a mistake once in a while, Kade.)
He came back to strike out the next hitter looking at the curve, (strikeout six) and the hitter after that (number seven) on a fastball up at 95 after he’d just had him flailing over the changeup. Here’s a look at the change:
What really stood out about Anderson’s outing was his pinpoint command of the zone, walks aside – and when the rare unfavorable (2-0, 3-0) count happened, it felt like Anderson was able to pull himself back into the zone (perhaps explaining his frustration with the second walk). It was Anderson’s zone, and the Wichita hitters were just trying to survive in it; five of his eleven strikeouts were on called strike threes.
That’s not to say Anderson was without whiffs though; his 14 whiffs ranked fifth in all of Double-A yesterday, although by percentage he ranked third at the level, behind Gage Stanifer (TOR) and Miguel Mendez (SDP). He was especially fired up on this three-pitch strikeout where he got the hitter hacking after a nasty curve.
For only his second outing of the season, there’s a lot to like about this start from Anderson: the pitch mix and command were as advertised, the stuff looks primed to rack up whiffs and called strikes, and Anderson’s competitive mound presence was on display even in an early-season game. Next up for Anderson, aside from building volume and working deeper into games, is to continue refining his pitch mix – he didn’t mix in his slider very often, although with the other three pitches working, he didn’t really need it – and continue to dial in his command, not allowing those 3-0 or 4-0 lapses to happen. Progress in the minor leagues is never perfectly linear and there will be bumps in the road for even the hyper-polished LSU product, but Anderson starts are quickly becoming must-see-MiLB TV.
