Eight games in a row without a loss. He’s looking like the de facto starter for the team.
When SSG Landers brought in Drew Anderson to replace Robert Duggar, who had struggled early in the season, there was one concern. He’s been building himself up as a bullpen pitcher all season in the United States. Even though he had started in the past, it was impossible to expect him to raise his pitch count immediately.
So, after arriving in South Korea, he went through a month-long buildup process to get his pitch count up in practice. It was only in his first four games in the KBO that Anderson threw more than five innings.
Four games later, on May 30, he earned his KBO debut with six innings of two-run ball against LG and hasn’t lost since in nine appearances. One of those games was a relief appearance just before the All-Star break (one scoreless inning against NC on July 4), so he is undefeated in eight games as a starter. His only loss this season came on May 24 against Hanwha (6 runs in 4 innings), before his pitch count was fully up.
Of course, not every game has been perfect. There were a few games where he failed to get off to a quality start or was removed from the mound before the fifth inning, but in each case, the offense and the bullpen were able to get him out of trouble.
Since the second half of the season, he’s found his groove.
Anderson pitched 6⅔ innings against Lotte on April 11, 파워볼사이트 추천 allowing just two hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks (unearned), and followed that up with six innings of two-hit ball (one home run), 11 strikeouts, two walks, and three runs (unearned) against Kiwoom on April 19. Sixth win of the season.
Against Kiwoom, he was unfortunate that his first-pitch changeup to Lee Joo-hyung in the sixth inning was hit right down the middle for a three-run homer, but other than that, he pitched a near-flawless game. Anderson’s 11 strikeouts against a tricky Kiwoom lineup is a testament to his power. In two games in the second half, he struck out a whopping 21 batters in 12⅔ innings. That’s pretty much the makings of an ace.
His hard-hitting fastball reaches up to 155-156 mph in the bullpen and is in the low 150s as a starter, but he’s been able to settle in much quicker than expected. With Roenis Elias still struggling to find his form from last year after returning from injury, and Kim Kwang-hyun struggling as of late, Anderson anchors the team’s starting rotation.