Kade Anderson treats Mariners fans to a glimpse of his future with Rockies dominance

Seattle has functionally been out of the playoff race for the last month. As a result, recent roster moves have been more focused on giving the team's top prospects a chance at getting some big league at-bats in preparation for the future. In the lineup, Lázaro Montes has been the biggest recent call-up and has wasted little time in showing off his otherworldly power, while Michael Arroyo hasn't been too shabby either.

But no prospect has drawn more attention than Kade Anderson, who was drafted third overall just last year. After dominating the minors, he made his big league debut in August against the Cubs and quickly learned that major league hitters are just a little tougher than those in Double-A. Prior to his most recent start, he had a 5.33 ERA and 4.44 FIP over 25.1 innings.

For most pitchers, making a start at Coors Field is a tough assignment and typically results in subpar statlines. However, the high-altitude hitter's park was no issue for Anderson on Sunday, who turned in the best start of his burgeoning major league career.

Kade Anderson's seven-inning shutout in Colorado illustrates exactly why he's poised to be the Mariners' ace of the future

Everyone knows that the mile-high altitude of Coors Field means batted balls fly further thanks to the thinner air. However, the thinner air also reduces the movement of all pitches, meaning fastballs have less ride and breaking balls have less run and drop, factors that also contribute to more hard-hit baseballs.

Still, there are ways to game plan for pitching in this environment outside of hoping your team scores more runs than the other. A few years ago, Mario Delgado of Purple Row wrote an article about what does work at Coors Field and one of the qualities is favoring pitchers with long extensions that are able to frequently locate their fastballs up in the strike zone.

Kade Anderson fits this bill almost to a tee. His nearly seven-foot extension is one of the longest in MLB and though his average fastball velocity of 93.4 mph is below average, his ability to consistently locate it at the top of the zone with his 16 inches of induced vertical break still make it a tough pitch to hit.

These qualities stand out at Coors but they're going to be useful no matter where he's pitching. Furthermore, an effective fastball helps set up his curveball and changeup, both of which had a whiff rate of at least 40% against the Rockies.

His secondary pitches will also be key to actually putting hitters away. Anderson throws plenty of strikes, more than 95% of pitchers. Unfortunately, this can often be a double-edged sword as it gives hitters better pitches to hit. Being able to expand the zone can help him avoid damage while still racking up strikeouts and it's something that he's already focusing on.

It will be these seemingly minor adjustments that will help Anderson elevate himself to a major league mainstay and with the success that he has already had in his first professional season, it seems that the sky's the limit for the surging southpaw and he should get a full year to prove it in 2027.

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