Milwaukee Brewers: Chase Anderson Taking Advantage of Opportunity

It looked like Chase Anderson was headed for the Milwaukee Brewers’ bullpen as Spring Training wound down. That didn’t happen and it appears to be the best thing for the team and the individual.

There was a five-man competition on the hill this March as the Milwaukee Brewers sought to fill out their five-man starting rotation. Junior Guerra and Zach Davies were locks, but the 3-5 spots had plenty of uncertainty. Each of the remaining pitchers had multiple factors either working in their favor or limiting their chances.

Chase Anderson was one of those hurlers. With three straight seasons of an increasing ERA – from 4.01 in 2014 to 4.39 last year – he had the feel of being “just a guy.” Anderson normally will keep your team in a game. The problem was that he’d rarely step up and dominate.

By all accounts, it appeared Anderson would start the 2017 in the bullpen, giving way to a pair of slightly younger pitchers with more upside – Wily Peralta and Jimmy Nelson. Anderson also looked to sit behind veteran Matt Garza on the depth chart. No doubt Garza’s $12.5 million price tag and general unwillingness to pitch in relief both played roles.

Anderson admitted on Wednesday that he figured that was the way 2017 would begin for him:

"“I guess I would have been the long guy in the bullpen, which would have been fine, too,” he said. “I was going to accept any role they gave me. That was my attitude.”"

Of course, things often turn out differently. The Brewers announced that Garza would need to open the season on the DL. That opened the door for Anderson. Through his first two starts (yes, a small sample size), he has taken full advantage of his opportunity.

Anderson was masterful on Wednesday night in shutting down the normally formidable Toronto Blue Jays‘ offense. He put down the first 10 batters of the game, struck out 7, and allowed only 5 base runners to reach (3 hits, 2 walks).

Toronto only had one real threat all night against Anderson. The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs in the 4th. But as he did the entire game, Anderson had Russell Martin off-balance and out of sorts, putting him away with a tight curve ball on the outside corner to get the ‘K’ and turn away Toronto.

Once the Milwaukee Brewers closed out the 2-0 victory on Wednesday, Anderson sat with a 1-0 record and a minuscule 0.69 ERA in two starts.

It’s clearly too early to believe he has turned into this good of a pitcher. However, Anderson has been fantastic thus far, and it’s been a combination of factors boosting his early performance.

He’s been more aggressive throwing strikes early in the count. Anderson is getting a first-pitch strike in 62.5% of plate appearances (via FanGraphs). That’s up nearly 5% from last year’s numbers. That allowed Anderson to make hitters defensive and be more effective with his offspeed stuff.

For example, opponents are swinging at 31.9% of his pitches that are outside the strike zone. That is almost 10% more often than last season. It’s a terrific sign of his pitches’ movement and being up in counts when hitters are more likely to chase.

And of those times batters swing at pitches off the plate, they’re making contact less than 60% of the time. In 2016, that number was 73.1%.

His fastball sits in the very hittable 91-93 MPH range. Getting ahead makes his changeup’s velocity and movement even more effective. The diving, tailing change has been devastating through 13 frames this year. Anderson has used beautifully to both sides of the dish.

Toward the left-hand box, he is starting it off the plate and spinning back over the corner. On the other side, it’s dropping down and outside of the zone. He’s also been locating his curve effectively, tossing it up there at 78-79 MPH, further throwing off hitters’ balance.