Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics
May Stats: 3-1 record, 11.3% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate, 3.34 ERA, 5.62 SIERA, and 0.1 fWAR in 29.2 innings
Anderson’s overall performance (when looking at traditional stats) is trending a little better than last year. However, his SIERA (5.49) is much higher than it was in 2018 (4.13), and that’s mostly because of a huge rise in walks allowed.
The veteran southpaw allowed free passes at a 3.9% clip last year, which made his 14.1% strikeout rate a little more bearable. He’s whiffing hitters at a 12.2% clip right now, which is a little tougher to swallow with a 9.1% walk rate.
Many of his other peripherals, such as his batted-ball profile, look similar to what he produced in ’18, along with some improvements in certain areas. He’s been able to combat that increased frequency of walks by holding opposing hitters to a .271 BABIP and stranding runners at a 74.7% rate.
The big test moving forward will be how many innings he can accrue while staying effective. Anderson has already accumulated 60.2 frames and tossed 80.1 last year, but he hasn’t thrown more than that since 2015, when he finished with 180.1 for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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