The Dodgers signed left-hander Brett Anderson to a one-year, $10 million contract over the winter even though injuries had limited him to a total of 123 innings at the major league level between 2012-2014. It has proven to be a wise gamble thus far.
Anderson struck out a season-high 10 batters over seven innings of one-run ball in a 7-1 win over the Marlins last night. He gave up just five hits and one walk, with the only run scoring on a ground out from Adeiny Hechavarria in the first inning. Amazingly, he allowed just one fly ball in the 25 batters he faced while inducing 13 grounders.
Anderson now has a 3.13 ERA and 62/24 K/BB ratio in 89 innings across 15 starts this season. Meanwhile, his ground ball rate of 68.7 percent is the highest among major league starters. The 27-year-old has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six out of his last seven starts and has gone at least seven innings in four of them. He has already logged his most innings in a season since his age-22 season in 2010 with the Athletics. His career veered off track after that due to a long list of injuries, but not only is he healthy right now, he’s thriving. It’s easy to get overlooked on a staff which also includes Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, but his steady presence has been important for a rotation which has lost Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy to injury.
