Brett Anderson

From BR Bullpen

Brett F. Anderson

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 4", Weight 215 lb.

High School Stillwater (OK) High School

Born February 1, 1988 in Midland, TX USA

Brett Anderson is an Oakland Athletics prospect. He is the son of Frank Anderson, head coach of Oklahoma State University.

Anderson went 9-1 with a 1.14 ERA as a high school sophomore and 5-0 with 5 saves and a 0.68 ERA as a junior, earning All-Oklahoma honors. He played for Cincinnati's Midland redskins and had a 0.80 ERA for them second lowest in team history behind Mark Mulder. He also pitched for the US in the Junior Pan American Games, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched, allowing just 3 hits. He went the distance against Panama, 2-hitting them.

Anderson went 9-0 with a 0.37 ERA and 2 saves as a high school senior, allowing 27 hits and 9 walks in 57 innings while striking out 102. That earned him first-team High School All-American honors from Baseball America. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Anderson in the second round of the 2006 amateur draft (the 55th pick overall) after he had been expected to go in the first round. He signed for a $950,000 bonus; only Wes Hodges had a higher signing bonus among second-round picks in 2006.

Anderson split 2007 between the South Bend Silver Hawks (8-4, 2.21, 10 BB, 85 K in 81 1/3 IP) and the Visalia Oaks (3-3, 4.85, .311 opponent average). Baseball America rated him as having the best changeup in the Midwest League and is being the #3 prospect in the loop behind Clayton Kershaw and Travis Snider and right ahead of Gorkys Hernandez. Anderson would have led the MWL in ERA had he qualified. His season was cut short by a concussion from a traffic accident.

Anderson got traded in the winter. The Oakland Athletics picked him up along with Dana Eveland, Chris Carter, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.

Anderson began 2008 with the Stockton Ports and went 9-4 with a 4.14 ERA but struck out 80 and walked 18 in 74 innings. He was then promoted to the Midland RockHounds and named to the Futures Game roster. In the 2008 Olympics, Anderson was 1-0 with a 4.98 ERA for Team USA, the Bronze Medal winners; he fanned 10 in 12 2/3 IP. He did not pitch particularly well against either Canada or Japan but got the win over Japan in the Bronze Medal game, 8-4, thanks to a US power display.