[MyDaily = Reporter Jinseong Kim] Will only Drew Anderson (32, Detroit Tigers) be the lone success story?
This year Detroit drew attention by signing several foreign players with KBO experience. The roster also includes Go Woo-seok, who’s spent three years grinding it out in the minors with Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. So far, the only player meeting the team’s expectations is Drew Anderson, who signed a 1+1 year, 25.6 billion KRW (about 17 million USD) contract.
Go Woo-seok has produced strong numbers at Double-A and Triple-A, yet Detroit keeps passing him over. Some analysts suggest the club is mindful of minor-league refusal rights, but only Detroit knows the full picture. Meanwhile, Enmanuel De Jesus, currently on the big-league roster, has been uneven in 16 appearances, logging two wins with a 5.91 ERA. He’s been optioned to Triple-A at times, but hasn’t been trusted in high-leverage situations.
Burch Smith and Connor Seabold are unfortunate cases. Smith returned to the majors after a dominant Triple-A stint but landed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. He’s 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 13 games this year. Seabold was recently designated for assignment; he was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays on the 28th (Korea time).
Anderson, by contrast, has been noticeably steadier in May. This season he’s appeared in 18 games with a 1-1 record, two holds, two saves and a 3.44 ERA. In May he’s worked in eight games with a 0-1 mark, one save and a 1.37 ERA. He even made a spot start, and when he enters a game he typically eats multiple innings. This month he has failed to record at least one full inning only once.
That kind of reliability has earned the bench’s trust. On the 28th at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, he came in as the second pitcher and threw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts, turning in a near-perfect relief appearance against the Los Angeles Angels.
Anderson took the mound in the bottom of the fifth with Detroit leading 2-0. He induced a grounder to short from Jo Adell with 94.9 mph and 94.6 mph four-seamers. He got Oswaldo Peraza to ground out on a 95.6 mph four-seamer. After starting with a curve, he mixed in changeups. Against Donovan Walton he froze him with a curve for a called third strike, lowering the curve to 75.8 mph.
With one out in the sixth, on a 2-2 count to Jack Nieto, Anderson uncorked a high 95.1 mph four-seam on the inner edge that was initially ruled a ball. Anderson requested an ABS review, the call was overturned to a strike, and Nieto was called out on strikes. He then retired Mike Trout on a 95.8 mph four-seamer to left.
In the seventh, he struck out Jorge Soler with a 96.1 mph high fastball and got Wade McColler to fly out to left on a first-pitch 95.3 mph heater to end the inning. Anderson needed just 35 pitches across three innings, 26 of them strikes. Detroit held a 4-0 lead and Anderson earned his second win of the season.
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