The Seattle Mariners have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season.
At 60-68, 4.5 games out of the AL West and 3.0 out of the AL Wild Card, they need a jolt of energy to finish their season.
They just got it. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Mariners are calling up the top pitching prospect in baseball (No.5 overall), left-hander Kade Anderson. According to Passan, Anderson will start on Saturday.
This is an aggressive callup for the Mariners, given this was his first season in the minors, but a warranted one nonetheless.
What Will Anderson Bring to the Seattle Mariners?
The Mariners drafted Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft after a stellar college career. With LSU, he became the best pitcher in college baseball, led the Tigers to a College World Series title in 2025 and earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
He would have the most strikeouts in Division I with 180 strikeouts in 119 innings. He was in conversations to go No. 1 overall. Anderson will now be the first player from his draft class to make his major league debut.
He went straight from the draft to Double-A, an aggressive path, and after just 18 professional starts, he will be promoted aggressively again.
In Double-A this season, Anderson went 10-1, with a minuscule 1.06 ERA in 18 starts (93.1 innings). He would give up minimal contact and was dominant with his strikeout rate. He would have 135 strikeouts and walk just 13 batters. That would lead to an unprecedented 0.64 WHIP.
The usual bumps in the road for prospects did not happen for Anderson. He has been nothing short of dominant and will now face major league hitters.
Anderson doesn’t have the flash of some top prospects with high velocity (tops out at 97 but averages 92-94), but has elite control that can miss bats at a high level.
How Will Anderson Fit on the Team?
While it’s unclear how Seattle will accommodate Anderson in their rotation, he will be a part of it. With a rotation of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Emerson Hancock and Bryce Miller, there’s not a lot of room.
Even after trading Luis Castillo to the Chicago White Sox, the Mariners are still in a position where they might have to do a six-man rotation. Or they could move one of those five names to the bullpen as they did with Castillo.
Of the five names, Woo has the highest ERA at 4.10, but his advanced stats say he may be getting unlucky.
Anderson will be taking Miller’s turn in the rotation, but it might not affect his standing on the team.
Overall, this is an exciting time for Mariners fans. They get to see what their top prospect is made of, while still clinging to playoff hopes in a historically weak American League.
This could be the spark that the Mariners need to go on a run with 34 games remaining.
BREAKING: Seattle Mariners Call Up Top Pitching Prospect to Start Saturday