What Tyler Anderson’s strong start means for the Pirates’

www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2021/05/09/Pirates-Tyler-Anderson-Cubs-why-performance-matters-changing-speeds-rebuilding-trade/stories/202105090257


CHICAGO — Buried beneath a slew of roster moves, and the Pirates somehow scoring six runs with a lineup featuring just three players who started here on opening day roughly five weeks ago, was another outstanding start from Tyler Anderson.



Eight innings. Four hits. Two earned runs. One walk. Five strikeouts. Seventy of his 102 pitches thrown for strikes. Easily the best work by a Pirates starting pitcher this season.



Anderson was flat-out terrific against the Cubs during a 6-5 win, pounding the strike zone and routinely executing his four-seam fastball at the top of it, but this isn’t solely about what Anderson did at Wrigley Field.



In a season where plenty has gone wrong for the Pirates, especially on the injury front, Anderson has been a consistent bright spot. He has made seven starts and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of them. He’s even gone 3-0 over his past five, pitching to a 2.32 ERA with 10 walks and 25 strikeouts.


No surprise, the big issue for Anderson has been health, which finally — knock on wood — he can say he has. Back in spring training, Anderson talked about how much that has affected him in the past. How a chronic issue in his left knee caused him to pitch through pain and how a June 2019 operation seemingly did the trick.



And how nice it’s been to simply focus on pitching, instead of whether he’ll be able to walk back to the dugout after executing a given pitch.



“It gives you confidence to go out and compete,” Anderson said. “I played a long time where you’re out there, you’re kind of battling for your life. When you’re injured and still trying to play, it’s hard to focus, and it’s hard to compete. It makes it a lot tougher with your concentration on a lot of things. But just to be healthy, I’m super thankful for it.”



So are the Pirates, one would imagine. Anderson’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed in Pittsburgh, and they certainly haven’t gone unnoticed around Major League Baseball. Think another team wouldn’t want a left-handed starter who’s a rental, with an ERA (3.05) and salary ($2.5 million) that aren’t terribly far apart?



Anderson has made himself extremely marketable to contending clubs, and his free agent signing has looked like an exceptionally smart one on the part of general manager Ben Cherington and the front office, provided they’re able to flip Anderson by the trade deadline and net a prospect or two in return.



But in the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with appreciating what Anderson did Sunday. How he got a four-run lead and went right after Cubs hitters. How he retired 13 in a row at one point. How he altered his funky leg kick and also added and subtracted miles per hour to his pitches, doing anything possible to mess with hitters’ timing. Anderson is fun to watch because he doesn’t just throw. He knows how to pitch, and a big part of that is manipulating velocity.





Anderson’s four-seam fastball against the Cubs clocked anywhere from 86-92 mph, his cutter 81-87 mph and his changeup 78-82.


That deviation matters for a few reasons. One, if a hitter guesses right — say he’s selling out for a fastball — there’s still a chance for weak contact if it’s coming a little slower or faster than anticipated. Secondly, manipulating velocity like this affects the shape of what pitchers throw. Done right, it can almost make one pitch become two.



In Anderson’s case, it involves playing with cutter to throw it like a fastball (87 mph end) with short, late break. Or like a slider (81 mph) with horizontal movement that’s more long and loopy.



The first version might move less, but the hitter has less time to react. The second provides an extra millisecond, though there’s more break. There are similar ways Anderson can fool around with his fastball and changeup, depending on the situation.



“Pitches sometimes play differently to different guys,” Anderson said. “Sometimes you have a shape in your head that you want it to be. Sometimes when you try to shape it that way, you lose some velocity. Or sometimes you add some velocity, depending on what you’re trying to do. It just depends on the situation. You pick your spots whether to go a little soft or a little hard based on what you’re trying to accomplish.”



Anderson has certainly picked his spots well this season. And while it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll be around here for the long haul — or August, for that matter — what Anderson is doing right now could very well matter in the grand scheme of things when it comes to the rebuilding Pirates.