Things have not gone the way that the Seattle Mariners wanted this season. After being just one win away from making their first World Series appearance last season, they have fallen short of expectations. They are currently 60-68 and 4.5 games back of the Houston Astros for first place. They are also three games behind the Minnesota Twins for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. Looking to give the roster a jolt, they are calling up top prospect Kade Anderson. Not only is he the Mariners’ top prospect, but he is also the top pitching prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. But is he enough to get the Mariners back on track?
What does Kade Anderson bring to the Mariners?
Anderson was the third overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. When he was first drafted out of LSU, many expected him to need at least one full season in the minors. But he has dominated minor league hitters, so they decided to give him a shot. In 18 starts this season, he has an ERA of 1.08 over 93 1/3 innings with 135 strikeouts to 13 walks, and a 0.83 WHIP. He has held opponents scoreless in 13 of the 18 starts he made this season. This is a level of dominance you do not often see at Double-A.
The lefty has a four-pitch mix that keeps batters on their toes. His fastball is not overpowering, only sitting between 92 and 94 mph. But it can reach 97 mph at its best. His slider sits in the mid-80s and gets a lot of spin on it. His curveball also sits in the mid-80s and has a sharp 12-to-6 break on it. He also has a changeup that sits in the 80s with good sink. The one thing that all four pitches have in common is Anderson’s ability to control them. All of them find the strike zone at high rates and can get batters out.
The biggest question Anderson will have to answer is if his fastball can be effective at the major league level. Sure, his other pitches are elite, but there are real questions about whether the fastball can translate to the Major League ball. But two things will give him an advantage. The first being he’ll be pitching his home games in T-Mobile Park, the most pitcher-friendly park in the majors. The Mariners have also done a great job developing pitchers over the past couple of seasons, so they should be able to tweak his fastball and make it effective.
For years, the starting rotation has been the strength of the Mariners’ rotation. Sure, they are still one of the better ones in the league, but not as dominant as they used to be. Guys like George Kirby and Bryan Woo have seen their ERA above four. Kirby has also struggled late, having an ERA over five in his last 15 starts. The hope is that Anderson can bring the dominance he had in Double-A to the majors. To be the pitcher the Mariners can rely on to give them a quality start and put them in position to win games.
While there is a lot of hype around Anderson, we will not know if he’ll live up to it until he takes the big league mound. All eyes will be on Wrigley Field on Saturday when Anderson makes his debut against the Chicago Cubs.
