The Pittsburgh Pirates have drafted right-handed pitcher Matthew Anderson out of Morehead State in the tenth round of the 2016 draft. He is a 6’2″, 200 pound senior, who turns 22 next month.
Anderson is an interesting story. In his first three years at Morehead State, he posted a 6.00+ ERA each season. He came into the school throwing low-80s his first year. This year he finally put everything together and finished with a 2.95 ERA in 91.2 innings, with 42 walks and 130 strikeouts. His SO/9IP rate has gone from 7.89 as a freshman up to 12.76 as a senior. The control has always been somewhat of an issue, but this year he was able to post his lowest walk rate, BAA and WHIP.
He sits 88-92 with the fastball, touching 94 MPH. He second best pitch is an overhand curve, plus he throws a low-80s slider and a fringe-average changeup according to Baseball America. He has some deception in his delivery and while he takes the ball out of the glove early in his windup (see below), he still hides the ball well during his delivery. Anderson can throw all four of his pitches for strikes, though he obviously has his issues with consistency in that area.
As a senior, he will likely sign right away and well under his slot amount. I have included a video of him courtesy of Matt Czechanski.
