Roster Move: Mariners officially call up Kade Anderson, DFA LHP

Kade Anderson is officially in the big leagues.

The Seattle Mariners selected the highly-touted left-hander from Double-A Arkansas on Saturday morning as expected. Anderson is scheduled to make his first MLB start in Saturday’s 4:15 p.m. contest against the Chicago Cubs.

‘Extremely exciting’: Kade Anderson joins M’s for anticipated debut

To make room for Anderson on the 40-man and active 26-man rosters, the Mariners designated fellow lefty pitcher Jhonathan Díaz for assignment.

Seattle picked Anderson with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2025 MLB Draft out of LSU, who he won College World Series Most Outstanding Player honors with while helping the Tigers win last year’s national title. Anderson is the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball as ranked by The Athletic, as well as No. 5 overall by MLB Pipeline and No. 6 overall by Baseball America. He is the consensus top pitching prospect in the sport.

The 22-year-old Anderson is in his first pro season, having dominated Double-A in 18 starts for the Travelers. The 6-foot-2 southpaw went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 0.64 WHIP over 93 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 135 batters while walking just 13 and holding opponents to a .147 average. He leads the minor leagues in WHIP and strikeout rate (40.5%).

Anderson finished his run in Double-A on a scoreless streak of 20 2/3 scoreless innings, having not allowed a run over his last four starts with Arkansas. Of his 18 outings, 13 were scoreless, and he allowed more than two runs only once in a game with the Travelers.

As Anderson has been called up with less than 45 days remaining in the 2026 MLB regular season, he will maintain rookie eligibility for next year provided he does not exceed 50 innings pitched in the majors.

The 29-year-old Díaz rejoined the Mariners from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday and made one appearance, allowing an earned run on two hits with one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of work. This is the third straight season Díaz has made at least one appearance on the mound for Seattle. He also pitched 11 games from 2021-23 for the Los Angeles Angels. In Triple-A this year, Díaz had pitched in 24 games, including 23 starts. He had a 7-9 record and 6.22 ERA over 111 1/3 innings with the Rainiers.

Mariners Radio Network coverage on Seattle Sports of Saturday’s game starts at 3 p.m. with the pregame show. The TV broadcast will be on FOX.

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