Dan Wilson expanded on the top pitching prospect's ability ahead of his first major league start against the Chicago Cubs.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will be looking to clinch a series win against the Chicago Cubs in game two of the set at 4:15 p.m. PT on Saturday at T-Mobile Park.
Looking to help cement the win will be left-handed Mariners starting pitcher Kade Anderson, who will make his major league debut Saturday.
Anderson (No. 5 MLB Pipeline top 100) is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations most analysts had for him.
The former NCAA College World Series Most Outstanding Player was selected third overall by Seattle in the 2025 MLB Draft and was extended a non-roster invite to spring training. In his first major league season this season with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, the 22-year-old southpaw posted a 1.06 ERA and struck out 135 batters in 93.1 innings pitched across 18 starts.
Anderson's allowed more than two runs in a start just once this season. The last outing he had where he allowed any scores was July 3.
Possibly just as performance as his performance on the hill, the former LSU Tiger also has the attitude of a winner.
Earlier this season, when Anderson was broached on the topic of possibly making the MLB All-Star Futures Game (which he ultimately did), he was emphatic in his statement that the majors was his goal, not the Futures Game.
"I think the one thing he said yesterday was he's here to win," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Saturday. "And that's what it's all about for him. ... I think he made a remark to somebody yesterday that getting to the big leagues is not his end goal. We say a lot that 'getting here is a lot easier than staying here.' And I think Kade wants to stay here, I think he wants to win here. And that's really what's driving him."
Anderson will have a comfortable hand catching his pitches behind the plate.
Cal Raleigh will be getting the start behind the plate. The former American League MVP finalist has experience navigating his starters' first outings in the big leagues. He caught the major league debuts of current starters Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock in 2023, who plans on letting the fledgling southpaw be himself.
"Cal's been through it a million times behind the plate," Wilson said. "He knows the hitters, he knows the situations that are gonna arise. I think one of Cal's superpowers this year really has been his ability to take good visits at good times and really change the course of a pitching outcome or an outing. That's what he can do for Kade today."
