Ian Anderson is down but not out
It's been pretty clear in spring training that Ian Anderson still has some kinks to work out, which is why the Atlanta Braves optioned him to Triple-A on Tuesday. But the 24-year-old still has tremendous potential.
In 3 games this Spring, Anderson has given up 6 runs (5 earned) on 5 hits in 7.1 innings with 8 strikeouts.
The most alarming part of his Spring so far -- 8 walks.
Command has been a major issue for Ian throughout his entire professional career with a BB/9 of around 4.
He's been in the 30th percentile or lower in BB% each of his first three seasons in the big leagues with last year being his worst output at 11%.
That's partly way the advanced metrics have never loved Ian and his xERA in 2020 and 2021 were much higher than his actual ERA.
"Effectively wild," is how Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker described Ian Anderson's performance in Game 3 of the 2021 World Series after pitching 5 no-hit innings.
That's the perfect way to describe Anderson's first two years in the big leagues, when he would consistently pitch 5-6 innings and only give up a few runs on a few hits.
But Anderson couldn't work deep into games because he'd lose command throughout the outing, walk several batters, and elevate his pitch count.
What needs to be fixed?
Fixing the command, specifically the fastball command, is something Ian has to figure out.
Whether it's a change in his arm angle, which is an over-the-top motion that is not all that common in today's game, or just having a better feel for his pitches.
It's not like he's that old, as he doesn't turn 25 until May, but you do wonder if the command will ever come.
It would also be beneficial for Ian to have a third, or even fourth, pitch that he can trust. And a pitch that has some horizontal break, away from righties to play off his change-up.
He has a curveball that he throws 20 percent of the time, but it feels like it is used more as a "show-me" pitch and not one he relies on to get ahead of hitters or put batters away.
It's a pitch that has looked pretty good in spring training and perhaps one he needs to throw even more.
He's also been working on a slider that should be a big pitch for him if he can gain control of it.
One thing is for certain, his fastball usage has to come down. He's been throwing it around 48% of the time and it's just not a good enough fastball, with low spin rates in the low-to-mid 90s.
While his change-up is an elite pitch that has great fade at 88 MPH and consistently gets whiff rates in the upper 30 percent, teams now know that if they can lay off that pitch down, they can keyhole his fastball.
That was pretty evidently the game plan for hitters last year as the batting average on his fastball went from .216 in 2021 to .306 in 2022.
Spending more time in Triple-A to work on these things isn't the worst thing in the world for Ian. Because he can fix them we're still talking about a middle-of-the-rotation type of arm -- one that has already had a ton of success on the game's biggest stage.
But this is a big moment for Ian in his career -- particularly with the Braves. Something has to change and it needs to change quickly.
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