Braves' Ian Anderson Shows Impressive Fastball in Second Spring Start

The Atlanta Braves held the Miami Marlins to zero hits through six innings on Feb. 28. Right-hander Ian Andersonw was a big reason why.

Anderson shut down the Miami hitters over the first three innings of Friday's affair. Two walks were the only Marlins he allowed to reach base. Miami also had a hitter reach on an error.

Anderson erased two of those three base runners with groundball double plays. Of the nine outs he recorded, seven of them were on the ground.

The Athletic's David O'Brien reported Anderson reached 94.9 MPH with his fastball. He averaged 93.3 MPH with 12 four-seam fastballs throughout the afternoon.

O'Brien tweeted that Anderson also averaged 87.8 MPH with seven change-ups. Of his 28 pitches, 16 of them were strikes.

Make that 2 walks for Anderson, who induced a double-play grounder by next batter after each walk. Only other runner to reach against him did so on a throwing error by SS Cairo. https://t.co/xFG9AWGdTt
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) February 28, 2025

This was a great bounce back performance for Anderson, who yielded a run on one hit and three walks in 1.2 innings during his first spring start on Feb. 23. During that appearance, Anderson threw 17 strikes and 20 balls.

Anderson still walked mulitiple batters on Feb. 28, and the Braves would likely prefer to see him strike out more hitters. He has recorded only one punchout in 4.2 innings this spring.

But Anderson looked much sharper versus the Marlins.

Anderson and other Braves starting pitchers have been a focal point for fans during the team's Spring Training games this February. Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Strider are set to be the top three starters for the Braves to begin the season, and ace Spencer Strider will return perhaps as early as late April.

But until then, the Braves will need two pitchers to earn starting rotation spots.

Anderson, along with Grant Holmes, A.J. Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder, is competing for one of those rotation roles. Holmes replaced Anderson on the mound in Friday's game versus the Marlins.

Holmes began his outing with two perfect innings. In his third frame, he walked two batters but made it through the sixth without yielding a hit.