Passan: Kade Anderson dominating minors at rare level

Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson’s incredible start to his first season of professional baseball has caught the attention of many, including ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

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When Passan joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk for his weekly conversation on Tuesday, he showered the left-hander with some lofty praise.

“I don’t know what else he could do at Double-A,” Passan said. “It’s been one of the more dominant stretches of minor league pitching that I’ve seen. Not like this year, like period.”

Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, made his 10th start with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers on Friday, tossing five shutout innings of one-hit ball while striking out nine batters and walking none.

As a result, Anderson lowered his ERA to 1.29 and WHIP to 0.69. Over 49 innings in his 10 starts, he’s struck out 76 batters, walked seven and allowed just seven runs while posting a 5-0 record. He leads the Texas League in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts.

“He’s doing literally everything that you can ask a pitcher to do,” Passan said. “He does not walk guys. He strikes out everyone. He does not allow home runs. He barely allows hits. He’s in all parts of the zone. He throws hard. He has touch. He’s got control. There’s some command there. He’s a magnificent pitching prospect.

“And I’m not saying that this is necessarily going to translate to the big leagues, because sometimes it doesn’t. But when you take all of those factors that I talked about there and add them up, they tend to make for an All-Star-caliber pitcher.”

Passan, like many others, expects Anderson to join the big league club at some point this season, which could be in relief role since the Mariners’ starting rotation is already crowded.

Hear the full conversation with ESPN’s Jeff Passan at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays form 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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