Pirates sign left-hander Tyler Anderson to add depth to starting rotation
After trading their past two Opening Day starters this offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates added to their rotation Tuesday by agreeing to terms on a major league deal with left-handed pitcher Tyler Anderson.
The contract is for one-year at $2.5 million, pending Anderson passing a physical, a source confirmed to the Tribune-Review. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported Anderson’s signing with the Pirates.
Anderson, 31, has a career 22-27 record with a 4.65 ERA and 1.340 WHIP in 82 starts over five seasons. After four years with the Colorado Rockies, who drafted him in the first round in 2011, Anderson was 4-3 with a 4.37 ERA over 59 2/3 innings in 11 starts with the San Francisco Giants last season.
That included his first career complete game, when he tossed a three-hitter with four strikeouts on 103 pitches in a 5-1 victory over Arizona on Aug. 22. Anderson won three games in September, earning victories against Seattle, Oakland and San Diego.
Anderson was 18-24 with a 4.69 ERA in 71 starts over four seasons with the Rockies. He was bothered by inflammation in his left knee in 2019, which required season-ending surgery to correct cartilage damage that June. The Giants claimed Anderson off waivers in October 2019.
The Pirates traded two-fifths of their starting rotations in the offseason, when they sent 2020 Opening Day starter Joe Musgrove to the Padres in a three-team, five-player trade Jan. 19, and dealt 2019 Opening Day starter Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees on Jan. 24 for four prospects. Those deals left a spot for a fifth starter in the rotation.
“We do need more innings,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Tuesday, “and I think there’s an expectation that we will probably add to that group at some point.”
Anderson joins Steven Brault to give the Pirates a pair of lefties to go along with right-handers Mitch Keller, Chad Kuhl and JT Brubaker. Also expected to compete for starting roles are Cody Ponce and Wil Crowe, who was acquired from Washington in the Josh Bell trade.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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