Amid hype, Mariners LHP Kade Anderson aims to ‘live in the moment’

A must-watch in Peoria in the opening days of spring training for fans, media and Seattle Mariners officials alike has been Kade Anderson.

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The interest is there not just because the 21-year-old left-hander was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, but because nobody with the organization has yet to say it’s impossible he could see innings in the big leagues this year.

Then there is the matter that there have been few opportunities to watch him in action, as Anderson hasn’t thrown in a game since last June and has yet to throw a pitch as a professional. It has been the longest layoff from pitching Anderson has had since recovering from Tommy John surgery in his junior year of high school.

While Anderson admitted to having an itch to get out there and compete while baseball was being played around him last summer, knowing what was in front of him in 2026, he has embraced the opportunity to spend quality time in getting ready for his first professional season.

“I am more aware of my body and routine and stuff, so having that time to focus on my body, nutrition, and stuff, it’s been a big help,” Anderson said in an interview that will run on this week’s Hot Stove Show on Seattle Sports.

The organization determined that post-draft innings in short-season or A-ball was not needed for Anderson, whose season ended last June after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series for leading LSU to the national title with a complete-game shutout in Game 1 in the best-of-three finals.

Anderson has been anything but idle since. He spent the majority of his time out of games working out in Arizona, getting a bit of a reprieve when he was sent to Double-A Arkansas for a week to get the lay of the land in minor league ball. When the season came to an end, he participated in the Mariners’ High Performance Camp and their Shove Camp, which gave him a great opportunity to not only further prepare for the upcoming season, but to get to know and work with fellow players and staff.

“I think the coolest thing about being a part of the Mariners is they are just really good people, and I think the Mariners do such a good job of bringing the right people in,” Anderson said.

A polished, four-pitch starter coming out of college, Anderson said he is comfortable with whatever tweaks the Mariners might want to make with his arsenal.

“It’s completely up to the Mariners in what they want me to do,” Anderson said. “I’m just going to be ready to learn from them. If they want to switch to a whole different arsenal, I will be ready for it. I just want to go out there and compete.”

Reports out of Peoria are Anderson’s competitiveness in how he goes about his business has been on full display in camp, from bullpens to live batting practice sessions. Two weeks ago, he seemed to be well aware he would soon find himself on a field facing live hitters, major league hitters, with all eyes on him. If there was to be any kind of pressure in this task, it was a pressure he felt his time at LSU had prepared him for.

“I will be ready for it,” Anderson said. “At the end of the day, it’s the same game. It’s just you’re playing with different people. When you have that perspective, it doesn’t matter if Josh Naylor is in the box or some high schooler. It’s the same game – you having to throw strikes, you having to mix pitches and just learn from it.”

Still a couple of weeks from the start of spring training, it was interesting to see Anderson already with his game face, a little more businesslike when it came to talking about his game than in his introductory press conference last July.

Admitting that, of course, the easy answer to what he would most like to accomplish in 2026 would be reaching the big leagues, his immediate focus was looking forward to making the “little steps” toward that.

“When you live in the moment, things come up on the work you are doing,” Anderson said. “You go through ebbs and flows, kind of riding the highs and riding the lows. It’s really trying to be even-keeled throughout the season. I’m just worried about winning. I feel like if you focus on winning, it makes your kind of self career go in the right direction. So looking forward to wherever I am at, just trying to win.”

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