Drew Anderson and the Tigers' Swingman Solution

Drew Anderson's spring numbers are hard to ignore. In four appearances, one as a starter, the 31-year-old right-hander has thrown 11 innings, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out 14. He hasn't allowed an earned run. The WHIP sits at 0.73.

For a pitcher who hadn't thrown a major league inning since 2021 and carried a career 6.50 ERA in 44⅓ MLB innings split between the Phillies, White Sox, and Rangers, those numbers invite some context, despite the popular term "spring training numbers do not mean a thing."

Anderson spent two seasons remaking himself with the SSG Landers in the KBO. In 2024, he went 11-3 with a 3.89 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 115⅔ innings, becoming the fastest KBO pitcher to reach 100 strikeouts in a season. He followed that with an even stronger 2025: 245 strikeouts in 171⅔ innings over 30 starts. He added the kick change — a harder, splitter-like pitch that dives down due to the grip — during the 2024 season, and usage picked up significantly in 2025.

The numbers are impressive, but they come with the standard KBO caveat. Industry evaluators generally place the KBO between Double-A and Triple-A in terms of talent and competition level. The ball itself is also a factor. The KBO de-juiced its baseball before the 2019 season, lowering the coefficient of restitution so balls wouldn't travel as far,  producing an 18% decrease in total runs scored and a full point drop in ERA league-wide as explained here in better detail on Pitcher's List. That said, the KBO ball is closer in size and feel to the MLB ball than the NPB ball is, which should ease Anderson's adjustment compared to a pitcher coming over from Japan, a transition he also has experience navigating, having spent time with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

The strikeout profile still holds up under scrutiny. Anderson's four-seam fastball averaged 95.2 mph in the KBO, with his sinker sitting at 91.3 mph, those two pitches accounting for 63 percent of everything he threw. The kick change gives him a weapon his previous MLB stints lacked entirely. Whether the strikeout rate translates at any meaningful level in the American League is the real question. He is one of the latest in a trend of pitchers bouncing from MLB or the minors to Korea to fine-tune their game, and the rare case of someone doing so with the same organization.

The Tigers signed Anderson to a one-year, $7 million deal with a club option for 2027. He came into camp competing for a rotation spot, and his one start among these four appearances suggests the organization is still evaluating that path.

That flexibility is the point. Casey Mize has made two starts this spring and shown flashes — 8⅓ innings, four strikeouts — but his 3.24 ERA comes with a home run, two hit batters, and three walks, a continuation of the contact and command concerns that defined his 2024 campaign. He did put together a solid 2025, winning 14 games with a 3.87 ERA across 28 starts. But his 8.4 K/9 and 3.89 FIP tell a more complete story: Mize limits walks and suppresses hard contact well enough to stick in a rotation, though he has never been the strikeout pitcher the Tigers once projected him to be coming out of the 2018 draft. The swingman role — ready to start or provide multiple innings out of the bullpen — may be where he adds the most value until he demonstrates he can sustain quality starts more consistently. Outside of Enmanuel De Jesus, who leads the staff in camp efficiency (6⅓ IP, 0 ER, 7 K), Anderson has put up the strongest numbers on the pitching staff this spring.

For context on what the Tigers are managing heading into 2026: last season, six pitchers made at least 10 starts — Skubal (31), Flaherty (31), Mize (28), Keider Montero (12), Olson (13), and Jobe (10). The last three were each compromised in different ways. Olson was shut down in July with shoulder discomfort, Jobe needed UCL reconstruction after just 10 starts, and Montero,  pressed into a larger role than the team anticipated, posted a 4.37 ERA with a 4.93 FIP across 90⅔ innings. Deadline additions Chris Paddack (7 GS, 6.32 ERA) and Charlie Morton (9 GS, 7.09 ERA) provided no relief. The rotation held together in the final standings largely on the strength of the top three and a capable bullpen, but the backend was a persistent problem from July onward.

With Flaherty back on his option, the 2026 rotation has more clarity than it did in September but as I mentioned before, it has to go eight to nine deep to make a playoff run. But the Tigers still need length and flexibility behind Skubal, Framber Valdez, and whichever arms fill out the back end. Anderson is one answer to that, not necessarily as a full-time starter, but as a pitcher who can be deployed in multiple configurations without losing value. The spring numbers are a good sign. The real test starts when the regular season does.

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