Mariners GM details the plan for Kade Anderson, Ryan Sloan

The Seattle Mariners already have a crowded collection of starting pitching at the major league level, which has forced them to get creative in how they deploy a rotation that currently features six healthy arms.

What They Said: M’s GM details everything about the new piggyback

On top of that, the M’s also have two of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball: 2025 first-round draft pick Kade Anderson and 2024 second-round pick Ryan Sloan.

Anderson, ranked as a top-10 overall prospect by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, has dominated at Double-A Arkansas with a dazzling 1.13 ERA over his first 11 professional starts. Along the way, the 21-year-old left-hander has piled up a jaw-dropping 41.2% strikeout rate and a 0.66 WHIP.

Sloan, meanwhile, has logged a 4.44 ERA over his 11 starts at Arkansas this season. But some believe the 6-foot-5 right-hander has an even higher ceiling than Anderson – including Baseball America, which ranks him as its top pitching prospect and No. 6 overall prospect. And the 20-year-old Sloan has shown more of that potential of late, posting a 3.00 ERA over his past five starts – including a perfect six-inning, 11-strikeout outing on May 30.

“They’re amazing,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said during Tuesday’s pregame show on Seattle Sports. “These are two of the most talented young pitchers that I’ve ever been around. This is year 19 for me, and I really can’t remember two guys (like this) – based on Sloan’s age and the level he’s at, and just on based on Kade Anderson’s performance and what he’s doing straight out of the draft.

“It’s very unique to have them both at the same level, sort of competing with each other in addition to the other team. They’re both really special. They’re both great competitors. They both embody a lot of the things that we value.”

The current plan

Given Anderson’s sensational performance in Arkansas and Sloan’s tantalizing potential, how soon could one of both of them reach the majors?

The tricky part is that – barring an injury or two in Seattle’s starting rotation – the bullpen would likely be the only spot for them at the moment. And as Hollander said, the Mariners don’t want to stymie their long-term development as potential top-of-the-rotation cornerstones.

“They both have a chance to pitch for us later in the summer,” Hollander said. “Right now, Kade’s at (55 2/3) innings on the season. … Calling them both up now and putting them in a bullpen or a shortened role or sort of a fireman role would really inhibit their development long-term.

“You’re talking about capping their innings at something like 80 or 90 for the year if we did that, based on how many innings they’re likely to pitch out of a bullpen. And that really affects their ability to jump off of a platform for next year and not be shortened into like a four or five-month season next year.

“I think our plan is to let them pitch for as long as we can in Double-A,” he added. “If we got to the end of the year and we needed help with the major league team coming down the stretch and hopefully the playoffs, I think they both would be considerations for that.”

The transition process

If Anderson and/or Sloan do end up moving to the bullpen at some point this season, what would the process of transitioning from a starter to a reliever entail?

“It’s unique to everybody,” Hollander said. “I think three weeks is kind of the rough time frame that you’d want to be able to start sort of backing someone down, and then letting them pitch twice a week and then every third day and doing it like that. So when it comes to that point, we’ll spend some time making sure that we adjust their workload and get them used to it.

“But we’re a long way away from that with both those guys. I do think that if we had multiple starting pitcher injuries, they’ve both put themselves in a position to at least be a consideration right now.”

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