Is Pirates pitcher Tyler Anderson an option for the Padres?
Credit: AP Photo
The San Diego Padres will have some new faces when August 1 hits. You can count on that. Whether it is Danny Duffy, Cole Hamels, Joey Gallo, Kris Bryant, or others– or a combination of those guys-– the Padres personnel will be busy printing new uniforms for the players they will acquire leading up to the MLB trade deadline.
Before the start of the season, the Padres boasted one of the top rotations in the league. Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Dinelson Lamet, Joe Musgrove, Chris Paddack, and Adrian Morejon had the makings of a spectacular rotation. After the All-Star Break, the Padres are down to just three of those guys healthy, and one of them being a struggling Paddack.
Enter the pitching options for general manager A.J. Preller. Hamels and Duffy have been linked to the Padres. Max Scherzer is nothing but a pipe dream until told otherwise, and Craig Kimbrel‘s return to America’s Finest City would be a shocker.
One realistic, cheap option would be Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Tyler Anderson. Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Anderson could be dealt with, and the Padres make a lot of sense. Ironically, Anderson threw six no-hit innings against the Padres earlier this season, so they know just how well he can hurl it.
The southpaw has a 5-8 record on the year and a 4.35 ERA. The Pirates just had the top pick in the MLB Draft and have the second-worst record in the National League, behind only the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Keeping Anderson doesn’t do the Pirates much good, so dealing him for something makes sense. Second baseman Adam Frazier, the Pirates All-Star, is another hot commodity on the trade market– just not for the Padres.
Is Anderson going to come into San Diego and be a top-3 guy? No, and he doesn’t need to be. Darvish, Musgrove, and Snell are entrenched as the first three in the Padres rotation. The injury to Ryan Weathers leaves many unanswered questions, and nobody really knows when Dinelson Lamet will return.
Enter Anderson, a perfect back-end rotation guy that could throw five or six innings every fifth day consistently. He is a rental, and that’s fine. Looking ahead to 2022, the Padres will have some combination of Darvish, Snell, Musgrove, Mike Clevinger, Lamet, Paddack, Weathers, Gore, Morejon, and others.
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You can never have too much pitching, and the Padres depleted pitching room is worrisome. It wouldn’t take much for Anderson at all, assuming they can out-bit the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, two teams who have been rumored to be in on Anderson’s services.
Another bonus is that Anderson spent the 2020 season with the San Francisco Giants and the four seasons before that with the Colorado Rockies. He has experience throwing against the NL West.
While Anderson isn’t the splashy pitching help everybody hopes for, Anderson is a reliable starter who can do exactly what the Padres and Jayce Tingler are looking for– throw innings consistently.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.