Right-hander Chris Anderson was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft. The Dodgers were interested in Anderson for his size, athletic ability and the fact he grew up in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. Growing up in Minnesota meant he did not play baseball year around and therefore had less mileage on his arm than youngsters living in areas where baseball was a twelve month a year activity.

Anderson’s first love was football and he had every intention to pursuit a career in professional football as a quarterback. However a quad injury in high school turned scouts away and he attracted no interest from colleges recruiting football players. He turned to baseball as Plan B and enrolled in Jacksonville University.

The Chicago Cubs had drafted him in the 35th round of the 2010 MLB Draft but he decided not to sign a professional contact at that time. Following his selection by the Dodgers in 2013 Anderson quickly signed and made his first professional start with the Great Lakes Loons on June 25th pitching two scoreless innings.

Anderson made 12 starts with the Loons finishing the season with a 1.96 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 46 innings.

He reported to the Rancho Cucamonga of the Class A+California League in 2014. His second season did not go as smoothly as his first year with the Loons. He posted a 4.62 ERA giving up 147 hits in 134.1 innings. The main difficulty for Anderson was command. Although he struck out 146 he walked 63 hitters while hitting 10 more.

The 6’3”, 235 lb Anderson started the 2015 with the Tulsa Drillers of the Class AA Texas League with an opening day start on April 9th against the San Antonia Missions. He won his first game of the season giving up two runs in five innings while striking out six.

On Saturday evening Chris Anderson made his ninth start of the season matching up against right-hander Christian Binford of the league leading Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Former first-round draft pick Chris Anderson allowed only one unearned run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in Saturday’s 7-2 Drillers victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
(Photo credit – Jordan Suskind)

In his previous two starts he had pitched 13 innings giving up 11 hits and two earned runs while striking out 10. Command continued to be a challenge as he walked six batters in his 13 innings.

Angel Franco led off the first inning at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas on Saturday with a line drive single to right field. However he was stranded as Anderson finished off the first frame with an inning ending double play.

As the game progressed it became evident he was on his game. He did not allow another base hit until the third inning. Following an error in the that inning by second baseman Brandon Dixon which led to a Naturals unearned run Anderson went on to strike out five consecutive Northwest Arkansas hitters.

He also finished off the fifth and seventh innings with double plays, the second on a good defensive play by second baseman Brandon Dixon who earlier in the game had committed the error leading to a Naturals run. Dixon further atoned for his misplay with a three run home run in the top of the seventh inning giving the Drillers a 7-1 lead.

Left-hander Dustin Richardson relieved Chris Anderson in the eighth inning. On the evening Anderson gave up five hits in seven innings of work, no earned runs, and struck out six while walking only two hitters. He made 97 pitches with 67 of them being strikes. He lowered his ERA on the season from 4.25 to 3.58 while earning his fourth win of the season.