Tanner Anderson

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2015
R+:  4-0-3, 2.38 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 22.2 IP, 0.6 BB/9, 7.8 K/9
A-:  1-0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 6.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 9.0 K/9

The Pirates sent Anderson initially to Bristol and he got good results there, walking almost nobody but with a low K rate for a short reliever.  He moved up to Morgantown in time to get in three games there.  Anderson allowed no HRs at either stop.

2016
A:  2-2-0, 3.42 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 47.1 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 6.3 K/9
A+:  1-1-1, 3.76 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 43.2 IP, 2.0 BB/9, 3.8 K/9

Anderson started the season back in the West Virginia bullpen.  He pitched well there, still with a low K rate.  His numbers were inflated by one outing in which he gave up seven runs in one inning.  Oddly, the Pirates promoted him to Bradenton after that outing.  After batting .218 against him with the Power, opponents hit .302 against him with the Marauders.  He missed extremely few bats with Bradenton.  He was a very extreme groundball pitcher, with a 71.9% groundball rate.

2017
AA:  10-8-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 133.1 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 6.5 K/9

The Pirates moved Anderson to the Altoona rotation to start the season and he was generally effective without being outstanding.  He made 19 starts, then moved to the bullpen for his last 11 games.  I don’t know whether that reflected a decision that he’d be better in relief or because his workload had gotten well beyond the previous year’s.  He was, in fact, more effective as a reliever, with a 2.38 ERA and 220/270/293 opponents’ batting line.  His numbers as a starter were 3.58 and 271/315/364.  He had some trouble with left-handed hitters, who put up a .756 OPS against him.  Right-handed hitters managed just .565.  He remained a very strong groundball pitcher, although not so much as 2016; he had a groundball rate of 61.3%.  Anderson’s K rate remained low.

2018
AAA:  3-2-6, 2.64 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 61.1 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 7.2 K/9
MLB:  1-0-0, 6.35 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 6.4 BB/9, 4.8 K/9

The Pirates moved Anderson to the bullpen with Indianapolis and he pitched well, throwing strikes and increasing his K rate a little.  He had a high ground ball rate and helped himself a great deal by keeping the ball in the park, allowing only two home runs.  He had trouble with left-handed hitters, who batted .344 against him.  Right-handed hitters batted just .230.  A little surprisingly, the Pirates added Anderson to the 40-man roster and called him up when they needed a fresh arm in late June.  He got into one blowout game and got bombed.  He got a second brief callup later in July, then came up in September.  After that first bad outing, he allowed three earned runs in 9.1 IP.

The September callup probably indicates that the Pirates see Anderson as possibly having a long-term role.  They did not call up Alex McRae, who was added to the roster during the season under similar circumstances.  The fact that Anderson doesn’t miss many bats probably limits his ceiling to middle relief.