Kade Anderson’s rookie season keeps stacking up milestones, and the latest one came with a dominant big-league outing on Sunday.
The Mariners left-hander threw the best start of his young career against the Colorado Rockies, working seven scoreless innings while allowing three hits, issuing no walks and striking out seven. It was a sharp, efficient performance from the organization’s top prospect, who was making just his sixth career start.
Anderson looked in complete control. He mixed his pitches well, attacked both sides of the plate and kept himself in command by getting ahead early. He threw 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes.
And if the Rockies’ lineup makes you want to put an asterisk on the performance, the rest of Seattle’s pitching staff already answered that for him. Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Andres Munoz all allowed runs in the series. Anderson did not.
The No. 3 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of LSU is now 2-2 with a 4.18 ERA. His first six starts have come against the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Athletics, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels, and he is set to face the Angels again this weekend in his final start of the season.
Seattle sits at 73-83, five games back in the American League West race, with six games left and a 0.2 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Even with his big-league work now underway, Anderson is also in line for major minor league honors. He is one of three finalists for the MLB Pipeline Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year Award and is also a finalist for Minor League Debut of the Year.
The winners will be announced on Sept. 28.
For the pitching prospect award, Anderson is joined by Joseph Dzierwa and Anthony Eyanson, both of the Baltimore Orioles. Eyanson and Josiah Hartshorn of the Cubs are the other finalists for the debut award.
Before his promotion to Seattle in mid-August, Anderson put together a huge year at Double-A Arkansas. He went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA in 18 starts, struck out 135 batters in 93.1 innings and posted a 0.64 WHIP.
His season has already earned him Baseball America Mariners Minor League Player of the Year on Monday, and he was also named Texas League Pitcher of the Year.
Seattle opens its final homestand of the season Tuesday night against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park. Houston is one game behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West race and trying to reach the playoffs after missing out in 2025. The Rangers last made the postseason in 2023, when they won the World Series.
In Other News...
J.P. Crawford Puts Mariners Infield Future In An Awkward Spot
J.P. Crawford has spent this season in the middle of a Mariners infield that already feels like it is shifting under his feet. He is in the final season of his four-year deal and heading toward free agency, while the organization has not shown any public push to lock him up long term. Meanwhile, younger names are starting to press into the picture, with Colt Emerson among the infield prospects adding another layer to the conversation about what Seattle wants this group to look like going forward.
Crawford has still been asked to handle important work this year, moving between shortstop and third base while dealing with injuries. The problem for Seattle is that the fit is not as clean as it used to be, with his defensive numbers at shortstop sitting below average. For a club trying to balance present value against a possible next wave of infield talent, that leaves Crawford in an awkward spot and the Mariners with a decision they have not yet had to make publicly. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Suddenly Have A New Bullpen Worry At The Worst Time
Andrs Muozs night ended early against the Rockies after the Mariners closer felt discomfort in his left knee, a development that instantly put a tense stretch of late-season baseball under a brighter spotlight. Dan Wilson said Muoz felt something in the knee and that the club would do further imaging to get a clearer read on the injury, leaving Seattle to sort through the next step without much immediate certainty.
Eduard Bazardo handled the save situation in Muozs place and picked up the first save of his career, a useful moment for a bullpen that suddenly has to brace for a bigger question. Muoz has already had an uneven season, so the Mariners were already managing his role carefully, but any issue with the closer now carries extra weight with so little margin left for error. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Uniform Debate Just Got A Lot Harder To Ignore
The Rays plan to revive their road gray look in 2027 does more than stir up nostalgia in Tampa Bay. It also sharpens an odd little distinction in Seattle, where the Mariners are now the only club in baseball operating without a road gray uniform under MLBs current 4-plus-1 setup.
Seattles uniform closet is hardly bare. The Mariners already cycle through five sets, including their home whites, navy alternates, teal alternates, Steelheads alternates and a City Connect look, a mix that became even more streamlined when the Sunday cream uniforms were removed last offseason. Even so, with another team about to add gray back into the rotation, the Mariners outlier status is becoming harder to miss. [Read more 🡒]