Bryan Anderson
From BR Bullpen
Bryan Douglas Anderson
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
- High School Simi Valley High School
- Born December 16, 1986 in Thousand Oaks, CA USA
Bryan Anderson is a St. Louis Cardinals catching prospect who is on Team USA in the fall of 2007.
Anderson hit .396 as a junior in high school. He threw out 44 of 49 would-be base-stealers and picked off 36 runners in his two seasons as a high school starter. He hit .414 as a senior. He committed to the University of Arizona but the St. Louis Cardinals took him in the 4th round of the 2006 amateur draft and signed him.
In his first professional season, Anderson hit .331/.383/.513 and even stole six bases in seven attempts for the Johnson City Cardinals. Baseball America rated him the #10 prospect in the Appalachian League, one spot behind Aaron Cummingham. Max Ramirez was the only full-time catcher rated higher. Anderson would have ranked 4th in average had he qualified (he was eight plate appearances short). He led the league's backstops with 16 passed balls. Ramirez beat him out for the All-Star catching spot.
In 2006, Bryan batted .302/.377/.417 for the Swing of the Quad Cities. He led the league with 17 passed balls and would have been tied for fifth in average had he qualified. He threw out 36% of attempted base-stealers. Anderson was named to the Midwest League All-Star team at catcher. Baseball America picked him as the league's #13 prospect, between Johnny Cueto and Oswaldo Sosa.
Anderson continued his fine contact hitting in 2007. He batted .298/.350/.388 with the AA Springfield Cardinals at age 20. He finished fifth in the Texas League in batting average. In the 2007 Futures Game, Bryan started at catcher, batting 9th in the order for the USA. In the second, he struck out against Carlos Carrasco with two men aboard. In the fourth, against Henry Sosa, he grounded out to 1B Joey Votto. Opposing baserunners were successful in three of four tries - Mike Saunders stole two, Chin-Lung Hu was one for two and Robinzon Diaz one for one. J.R. Towles replaced Bryan behind the plate. Anderson was named to the Texas League All-Star team as the circuit's top catcher that year.
Anderson joined Team USA that fall for the 2007 Baseball World Cup and hit .455/.538/.909 in four games while splitting catching duties with Jason Jaramillo.
Sources: 2007 Cardinals Media Guide, 2006-2007 Baseball Almanacs, MILB.com, IBAF site
