SEATTLE — The Texas Rangers went into Wednesday afternoon’s game with almost no video on the pitcher they were facing. Manager Skip Schumaker said on the pregame show on Rangers Sports Network that Seattle rookie left-hander Kade Anderson had only a couple of starts on tape and that the club’s veteran hitters had never seen him.
Texas turned in a righty-heavy lineup against him.
“There’s only a couple starts on video. I think there’s a couple guys that have seen him before a little bit, but our veteran guys obviously haven’t faced him. But he’s got a good fastball. The changeup is really good, kind of a four-pitch mix, throw strikes,” Schumaker said. “They develop good pitching over there. It feels like they’ve got another guy coming every year, and they’ve done a good job of that.”
“We have a righty-heavy lineup today against him, and hopefully, just like we did against Tampa the other day, hopefully it carries over and we have a lot of success today,” Schumaker added.
Seven of the nine Rangers who started hit right-handed. Elías Díaz, Cody Freeman, Justin Foscue, Logan O’Hoppe, Ezequiel Duran, Wyatt Langford, and Jake Burger were in it. Brandon Nimmo and Corey Seager were the two left-handed bats.
Burger homered off Anderson in the second inning for a 1-0 Texas lead. He entered the day with 25 home runs and 82 RBIs, both club highs, and had hit 2 home runs and driven in 3 in Sunday’s 8-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field.
Kade Anderson’s First Three Major League Starts
Anderson came in 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. Wednesday was his fourth start.
He debuted Aug. 22 against the Chicago Cubs and worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs with 5 strikeouts on 81 pitches. Against Toronto he went 4 1/3 innings and gave up 3 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts. His previous start came Sept. 4 against the Athletics, when he allowed 7 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of a 7-4 loss.
Over those 3 starts he issued 7 walks and allowed 3 home runs.
Kade Anderson’s Path From LSU To Seattle
Seattle took Anderson third overall in the 2025 draft out of LSU, and he became the first player from that class to reach the majors. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 College World Series after LSU won its eighth national title, and he went 12-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 119 innings in his draft year.
Anderson did not pitch professionally in 2025. He spent all of 2026 at Double-A Arkansas before the call-up, going 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA and striking out 135 against 13 walks. He started the All-Star Futures Game in July and threw a scoreless inning.
The Mariners designated left-hander Jhonathan Díaz for assignment to open a roster spot for him.
Cody Bradford (0-4, 4.45 ERA) started opposite Anderson on Rangers Sports Network. The Rangers are 72-73 and the Seattle Mariners are 67-78.
