Ian Anderson

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Ian Theodore Anderson

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Ian Anderson was the third overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft, taken by the Atlanta Braves out of a high school in New York state.

He began his professional career with the GCL Braves and also appeared for the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League that year. In 10 starts, he went 1-2, 2.04, allowing 33 hits in 39 2/3 innings while striking out 36 batters. In 2017 he was assigned to the Rome Braves of the South Atlantic League to begin the season.

He was named to the roster of the National League team for the 2019 Futures Game.

He made his major league debut on August 26, 2020, in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees. He was even better than advertised, not giving up a hit in his first five innings, before Luke Voit hit a solo homer with one out in the 6th inning. He finished the inning without allowing another hit and received credit for his team's 5-1 win, that incidentally broke Gerrit Cole's streak of 28 consecutive undefeated starts. On September 12th, he allowed just 1 hit over 7 innings in a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals. In 6 starts, he finished at 3-2, 1.95. Hen then made another four starts in the postseason as the Braves made it to within one game of the World Series. He continued his outstanding work, going 2-0 and giving up just 2 runs in 18 2/3 innings while racking up 24 strikeouts. In spite of his limited time in the Show, he received a vote for the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Anderson had a solid first full season with the Braves in 2021, as he made 24 starts, pitched 128 1/3 innings and finished at 9-5, 3.58. He allowed just 105 hits and struck out 124 batters. That year, the Braves won the World Series for the first time since 1995 and he was once again a big part of things, making another 4 starts in the postseason. He earned a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the Division Series on October 11th, pitching five scoreless innings, then had no-decisions in both of his starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. In the World Series, he started Game 3 against the Houston Astros on October 29th and pitched another five scoreless innings to earn a 2-0 win; in fact, he did not give up a single hit that day. He finished 5th in the voting for the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year Award (he had not exhausted his rookie eligibility the previous year) and looked poised to become the Braves' future ace.

Things did not go as expected in 2022, however, as he made 22 starts with Atlanta, going 10-6, but with an ERA of 5.00. His Achilles' heel as a pitcher had always been his relatively high walk rate, and by then it had jumped to 4.4 per 9 innings, bringing his WHIP to 1.513. He was sent down to the AAA Gwinnett Stripers on August 7th and spent the remainder of the year there, making 4 starts and going 1-2, 5.40. He did not come back to the Show and did not appear in the postseason that year. He then failed to make the Braves out of spring training in 2023, was sent down to Gwinnett, but after just 1 start before undergoing Tommy John surgery on April 13th. He missed the remainder of that year and in 2024 made 15 starts for four different Braves minor league affiliates, pitching 68 innings, but was not called back to Atlanta.

It looked like Anderson was finally return to the majors in 2025 as he had the inside track to earn a job in the Braves' starting rotation in spring training, but he walked 20 batters in 20 innings in spite of putting up a good ERA. On March 23rd, the Braves finally wrote him off, trading him to the Los Angeles Angels in return for another pitcher, José Suarez. The Angels indicated that Ian would start the season pitching out of the bullpen.

His twin brother, Ben Anderson, began his own minor league career in 2019.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jessica Camerato: "Anderson, 'ice in his veins,' stays scoreless", mlb.com, October 14, 2020. [1]
  • Jeffrey Lutz and Jacob Gurvis: "Angels acquire righty Anderson from Braves for Suarez", mlb.com, March 23, 2025. [2]
  • Adam McCalvy and Jessica Camerato: "'Old soul': Anderson's stuff beyond his years: Braves' Game 3 starter, 23, 'just a really mature guy'", mlb.com, October 28, 2021. [3]
  • Charles Odum (Associated Press): "Braves RHP Ian Anderson to have season-ending surgery", Yahoo! News, April 11, 2023. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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