Anderson proves he can deal with change
As Tulsa left-hander Tyler Anderson looked over the San Antonio lineup prior to Wednesday's start, he saw a number of names he didn't recognize. Without a personal history with the Missions' hitters, the 24-year-old decided to go to his best pitch -- the changeup -- and hope for the best.
It turned out to be the right move. The Rockies' No. 10 prospect set a season high with 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering two hits and two walks for Double-A Tulsa in a 1-0 loss in 10 innings to San Antonio.
Anderson fanned eight, earning five of his final eight outs via strikeout. The Oregon product slimmed his ERA to 2.74, but didn't factor into the decision.
The last time Anderson faced the Missions was on April 6, when he allowed an unearned run on one hit over five innings. Just three hitters -- Rymer Liriano, Yeison Asencio and Austin Hedges -- were in the lineup in both games.
Not knowing much about the other six batters in the lineup, Anderson challenged the Missions early with a combination of fastballs and changeups. MLB.com's prospect team considers Anderson's changeup his best pitch, noting it has "a ton of fade and sink to it."
"I threw some good changeups," Anderson said. "That helped make the fastballs a lot better. It was a lot of fastballs and a lot of changeups.
"I think I kind of went into it knowing there were a lot of guys this time that weren't here last time. The new guys hadn't seen me yet, so I just attacked them, saw how they responded. It ended up that the changeup worked well."
After missing time in 2013 with a stress fracture in his throwing elbow, the left-hander has been on a strict pitch count this season, making it difficult to go deep into games. Anderson hadn't helped his own cause by running up pitch counts on occasion, but wasted little time disposing of his Texas League opponents.
"It's hard if you're on a pitch limit," he said. "Every ball is just sort of a wasted pitch. You can throw some quality balls once in a while, but if you do that with every hitter, that makes it tough to go deep into the games."
The Las Vegas native kept the pitch count down by inducing some early contact on the ground. One of the Rockies' organizational "absolutes" for their pitchers is to induce more groundouts than flyouts, and Anderson's been a good pupil with a 1.43 groundout-to-flyout ratio this season coming into the game.
He improved that mark with nine groundouts and just two flyouts against San Antonio.
"A lot of times, if you just throw balls down in the zone, chances are it's going to get hit on the ground," Anderson said. "Everything we work on, day in and day out, is throwing down in the zone, trying to throw pitches guys will hit on the ground. I think that's definitely part of that, that the Rockies have done a good job instituting that from top to bottom."
Padres right-hander Bryce Morrow countered Anderson with seven scoreless innings, scattering three hits and a walk while striking out six. In three starts with the Missions, he has a 0.95 ERA with 19 strikeouts and three walks over 19 innings.
Morrow signed with the Padres in 2013 after spending parts of three seasons in the independent Frontier League. The Central Michigan product posted a 3.75 ERA in 19 appearances (five starts) with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore before being promoted to San Antonio.
Jake Seiner is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Seiner.
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring
'Hungry' Alcántara hoping to pounce on big league prey in '25
MESA, Ariz. -- The thing about jaguars is, you don’t want to see one when it’s hungry. So when Cubs legend Sammy Sosa spoke to the organization’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- and the No. 89 prospect overall -- the former slugger gave him some apt advice. “His
Rainiers broadcaster Pay talks historic role on MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Prospect Santos 'electric' in Spring Breakout start
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Malcolm Moore knew Winston Santos was locked in before he even threw a pitch. In the second annual Spring Breakout game, Santos -- the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was throwing to Moore, the Rangers’ No. 4 prospect and highest-ranked catcher. The battery more
Switch-pitcher Cijntje deals from both sides in Spring Breakout
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Jurrangelo Cijntje knew who’d be waiting for him in the batter’s box when he emerged from the visiting bullpen on Friday evening. The Mariners’ switch-pitcher had seen Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana recently at a card-signing event, to which they each joked, “I’m going to see you soon,”
Fans in this Minor League town are hungry for ... the Spicy Meatballs?!?
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Chandler adds mix to upper-90s heat in stellar Spring Breakout start
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In the inaugural Spring Breakout game a year ago, as he was coming out to pitch the ninth inning, Bubba Chandler slammed a Red Bull and declared “let’s do this” before pumping upper-90s heat.