Nick Anderson is not exactly a household name – and he may never be. For most of last season, Anderson was a 28-year-old rookie non-closer pitching for the Marlins (he turned 29 in July). That’s not a recipe for superstardom.
After a deadline deal brought him to Tampa Bay, Anderson did get a moment in the spotlight, striking out four of the five batters he faced in the Rays’ Wild Card Game win over the A’s. That was nothing new for Anderson, who spent most of the season racking up strikeouts at an alarming rate.
Between Tampa and Miami, Anderson appeared in 68 games in 2019, totaling 65 innings with a good-but-not-great 3.32 ERA. The peripherals speak to a much more dominant campaign for the former independent leaguer. His 2.35 FIP suggests a potential high-leverage bullpen arm, while the 2.1 fWAR he racked up confirms it: he tied for 5th overall in the majors among relievers. That puts him on the same plane with firemen/closers like Taylor Rogers, Brandon Workman, Felipe Vazquez and Aroldis Chapman. Make no mistake: Nick Anderson is an elite bullpen piece.
Credit the Marlins for picking up Anderson and turning him into a top-100 prospect in Jesus Sanchez. Sanchez may have lost some luster as a prospect, but he still landed at #96 on Fangraphs’ top-100 list. Yes, he was #47 on their updated list after starting the year at #54 in 2019, but he’s still just 22-years-old and posted a promising line of .246/.338/.446 in the homer-happy PCL after the trade. As a 21-year-old, he was more than 5 years younger than the average player in the PCL.
For their part, the Marlins acquired Anderson for Brian Schales after the Twins signed Anderson from the independent league. The 6’5″ Anderson put up good numbers in the Twins’ system from 2015 to 2017, but he started to pop in 2018, striking out 13.2 hitters per nine innings in Triple-A. At the time, the deal was most notable for bumping Derek Dietrich from the Marlins’ roster.
But Anderson became a different animal entirely during his breakout in 2019. His 15.23 K/9 ranked fourth among relievers in the majors, behind only strikeout artists Edwin Diaz, Matt Barnes and Josh Hader. After joining the Rays, Anderson went into overdrive, striking out a ridiculous 17.3 batters per nine innings. Including his Marlins work, the Minnesota native finished in the bottom 9th percentile in hard hit percentage and bottom 12th percentile in exit velocity.
In adding Anderson from the Marlins, the Rays got a guy who has a legitimate chance to be one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball, and they have him at the league minimum for another two seasons. This is a guy the Rays can afford, which makes the deal all the more important from their perspective. There’s a reason they could include Ryne Stanek in the deal, a guy who throws 100+ mph and had a 3.40 ERA at the time. There’s a reason they could deal Emilio Pagan to the Padres after he broke out with a 2.3 bWAR season of his own in 2019. That reason is Nick Anderson.
So how does he do it? For Anderson, the recipe is fairly simple. He throws a fastball that averages 96 mph with good spin that he locates up in the zone. His “other” pitch is a curveball – but it’s one of the best in the game. By Fangraphs’ pitch values, his curveball was the second most valuable such offering from a reliever in 2019, behind only Workman’s bender. Batters managed an expected batting average of just .134 off Anderson’s curveball while registering a whiff rate of 54.2%. As of right now, Anderson’s hook is one of the deadliest weapons in the sport.
Anderson could also be in line for some positive regression this season, as opponents had a higher-than-average .349 BABIP against him in 2019. A 14.5 % HR/FB rate was also higher than Anderson had yielded at any point in the minors, and if that number comes down, Anderson could be an even more potent asset for the Rays moving forward.
His ceiling is no lower than Liam Hendriks’ amazing 2019, though Hendriks has a bit more versatility in his offspeed stuff. Hendriks, of course, was the most productive reliever in all of baseball last season, so there aren’t a ton of comps out there that make sense for him. Anderson, however, is one that does.
How is it possible to declare a winner to this trade after 2 months and the return for Anderson being a prospect?
They didn’t give up much to get elite level relief pitching.
They got elite level relief pitching for 2 months. My personal opinion is that the Rays will easily win this trade but to suggest that they already have won it is completely ludicrous. We have miles to go on this trade.
never have i seen a nearly-30 rookie gain so much hype so quickly. not sold he’ll be as good next year.
Why even mention Felipe Vazquez? I understand how dominant he was, but he doesn’t deserved to be mentioned in any article. He’s a disgusting individual.
Your virtue signaling is duly noted
Cancel culture at its finest. Go make your own country commie scumbag.
Why even me mention Felipe Vazquez after what he did?
Yeah? Tell us how you really feel.
Aroldis Chapman was mentioned too. He also had domestic abuse issues allegedly putting his hands around his gfs neck. Doesn’t seem to bother you in the least his name is mentioned.
Article isn’t about either though…..
Didn’t see my first comment posted. Technology lag. Please forgive me hosebelion!!
Allegedly doesn’t tell me he was charged or found guilty….
Lol are you really comparing a domestic violence allegations to pedophilia? Vazquez will never play in the MLB again and will likely(hopefully) spend 5-10 years in prison, like the GOOF deserves. So yes, Chapman is still relevant, considering he still plays in the league we all miss so much, Vazquez not so much.
Vladguerrerojr20 – some people really don’t deserve the reproduce and should head to the doctor to get snipped so that we aren’t subject to their stupidity for generations to come.
I assume youre at the front of this line?
It is a little strange to mention Vazquez in this context, considering that he is no longer an active MLB player
its a fact of the matter that he was one of the best RP in recent years. i hate the guy too, but to act like he never existed makes no sense.
I see what you’re saying, but lines have to be drawn…
That’s not how facts work
No, that’s not how facts work. That’s how morals work. I don’t care if he was great. He’s a pedophile. Two dozen charges are facts. I get the whole comeback of “innocent until proven guilty,” but two dozen charges. You have guys who aren scratching to get into the hall of fame over steroids. Their numbers are facts and some of the greatest of all time. ‘Facts’ aren’t going to cut it for this fella.
Vazquez is innocent until proven guilty. Maybe that girl should’ve kept to men her own age instead of getting other people in trouble.
Lol do a little bit of reading. I sure hope you never have a child or a daughter.
someone like him, if he had a daughter, he’d probably tell her she had it coming and defend the person who attacked her (it’s a feature, not a bug, in people like that).
You’re right. That guy has natural selection coming to him in regards to being in a situation like this and I sure hope it’s televised to witness.
Or reproduce. Sorry. I forgot that.
Coming from a guy who’s username is coronavirusisfake
Nick Anderson was dominant, but 21 inning sample size isn’t much. Now if he can keep it up for a full season, yeah they’re most definitely the winners. But as of this moment it’s still too early
I think the larger point is that the Rays have one of the best professional scouts staffs in the business. I have come to expect that they will somehow win head scratching trades.
I admittedly don’t watch the Rays but always kinda root for them…..Imagine if they had legit ownership and/or a huge fan base where they could actually spend money. Combine spending money with their scouting and foresight regarding trades, they would be unstoppable every season!
They would be the Dodgers of the AL if they had money. Note that Andrew Friedman came from Tampa too. Hopefully, Chaim Bloom will bring some of that Tampa scouting magic to Boston with him. The Rays have the best front office team in all of baseball if you ask me.
Scouting and trade perfection don’t matter as much when you have that much money. Rich teams don’t need to be the smartest
For a team that has limited resources the Rays do alot with so little & they keep up with the teams that have the bigger payroll & attendance. The Red Sox had the highest at $213 million payroll & averaged 36k in attendance last year but finished behind the Rays whose payroll was $62m & an average attendance of 14,734 so it isn’t always about the money or size of attendance. Rays made the post season Red Sox did not. For that matter, Yanks, with all their big named players & deep pockets didn’t win the world series either. Money can buy you the big named players but not the wins.
The point of this article is simple — the Rays did what every team is trying to do, which is to find elite pitching (high K, low walks, low barrels/contact rate, weak contact, etc).
It is interesting to see when teams find nuggets in the rough, showing that it can be done. Front offices and their scouts are trying to find the next version.
But the Rays didn’t find anything…The Marlins did and capitalized by receiving a top 100 prospect and a young RP with huge potential.
But yeah Rays won this by a land slide. Stupid Marlins
i wouldnt say that. Sanchez was a big asset to give up for a RP and a swingman (even if both are young and controllable)
Except that Top 100 Prospect went down from the #51 Prospect to #80 Prospect. When Stanek got traded to the Marlins, his stats skyrocketed from a 3.40 ERA to a 5.48 ERA. His K/9 did increase to 11.81, but his BB/9 nearly went up by 2.5X. His HR/9 almost increased to a 1.69. As of now, the Rays are winning the trade without a doubt.
The Rays found an area to scout that most teams ignore; older rookies. If Anderson was 23-24, they probably couldn’t have pried him away from the Marlins. His age made him expendable, even though the service time is the same. Whatever team has him thru his free agency will get his prime years at a bargain. It may have cost a top 100 prospect, but what would Hader or Chapman cost for fewer years of control?
there’s no way jeff sullivan didn’t have something to do with this
Man I miss Jeff, just truly the greatest baseball writer and mind to ever live, Rays became my second fav team the day he joined ranks- Great comment
Should have kept Pagan too. Just Saying.
Agreed, Margots a toad
The Twins are also the deal losers. They are perpetually searching for pitching while letting their high potential relief talent (Ryan Pressley, Nick Anderson, even the aforementioned Liam Hendricks) slip away. And Anderson’s from Minnesota. Double ouch.
Maybe Tampa Bay saw some sort of a red flag in Sanchez’s game to make the Miami deal, or they simply recognized Anderson’s emerging dominance. Kudos to the Rays for yet another great value find.
I bet the tigers were patting themselves on the back when they traded away a no name prospect for Doyle Alexander.