The Seattle Mariners gave their top 2025 draft pick a rare opportunity for other players in his position.

Top 100 pitching prospect Kade Anderson (No. 21 MLB Pipeline top 100), made three Cactus League starts this season after not pitching in an organized game in 2025. Anderson was selected by the Mariners with the third overall pick in the last draft.

In his first taste of professional baseball, Anderson posted a 6.43 ERA and fanned nine batters in seven innings pitched.

Anderson's time in big league camp ended on Saturday. The 21-year-old left-hander was re-assigned to minor league camp. The move came with a report from Seattle Times writer Ryan Divish that Anderson would begin the 2026 season with the High-A Everett AquaSox.

This will be the second-straight season in a row Everett has had a top 100 pitching prospect on the roster.

Seattle's 2024 first-round pick, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (No. 91 MLB Pipeline), began last season with the AquaSox and was eventually promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before spring training began in the deal that netted the Mariners Brendan Donovan.

Right-handed pitcher Ryan Sloan (No. 33 MLB Pipeline) began last season with the Single-A Modesto Nuts but was promoted to Everett to end the season.

Given the trajectory of the previous two top 100 hurlers, it would be reasonable to assume Anderson will make his way to Double-A sooner rather than later.

Seattle general manager Justin Hollander has already said it won't be out of the question for either Sloan or Anderson to make a major league appearance for the team at some point this season.

The Mariners are already expected to be down one hurler to begin 2026. Right-handed pitcher Bryce Miller is dealing with an oblique issue and isn't expected to be ready by Opening Day. FanGraphs currently predicts Emerson Hancock to fill in for Miller on the rotation to begin the season.

If Seattle suffers another injury to the starting rotation, as it did last season, there's a non-zero chance Anderson could follow in the steps of previous notable pitching prospects such as Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Trey Yesavage (Toronto Blue Jays) and make his major league debut a year after he's drafted.

The Mariners begin their regular season against the Cleveland Guardians at 7:10 p.m. PT on March  26 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!