Kade Anderson makes an outstanding debut, but the Mariners lose 7-1 to San Diego

On Saturday, the Mariners faced their roommates at the Peoria Sports Complex, with the Padres notching an easy victory, despite an amazing initial outing from the M's top pitching prospect

Feb 25, 2026; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners infielder Josh Naylor against the Kansas City Royals during a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Seattle Mariners dropped another Cactus League contest, 7-1, to the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon. Despite getting off to a good Spring Training start, the loss drops their record in exhibition action to 3-5-1.

Luke Raley homered for the M's only run of the game. New Mariners' star Brendan Donovan went 2 for 3, while starting at third base and batting lead-off. But the real story of the day was lefthanded pitcher and 2025 first-round pick Kade Anderson, who was making his pro debut andgrandly showcased his superior stuff on Sunday.

“He’s got four plus pitches,” Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said. “I mean, those are all real pitches that you can throw to both sides of the plate. Polished, very impressive. He can locate the ball, he can command it, he can throw off-speed in the zone for strikes."

“He was using different pitches and being able to attack hitters different ways. I mean, you could tell, he had some swing-and-miss stuff, and (batters) didn’t look too comfortable in there.”

Kade Anderson makes a dazzling debut

Feb 19, 2026; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Kade Anderson (13) during spring training photo day in Peoria, AZ. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Anderson began by striking out five-time Silver Slugger Award winner and four-time All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts on three pitches. He followed that up by hanging Ks on the next two batters to strike out the side in order.

“Really good to see Kade out there,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I thought in the first inning, obviously, striking out the side, looked pretty impressive. And really good to see him compete like that. Second inning, a little bit different. I think probably wanted to attack the zone a little bit more. But outside of that, I thought it was just an outstanding first outing for him.”

Kade Anderson's first professional at-bat on the mound -- a three-pitch ꓘ to Xander Bogaerts.

A strong opening act for the Mariners' No. 2 prospect and @MLBPipeline's No. 21 overall, as he went on the strike out two more in that 1st inning. pic.twitter.com/vD4OrsDTwA

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) February 28, 2026

“It was just another game for me,” Anderson said, regarding his feelings about taking the ball for the very first time. “I think when you have that mindset, it makes it a lot easier on yourself. You don’t have as much nerves.”