PICKING UP SPEED
How Tigers’ Drew Anderson became a fireballing reliever to watch
LAKELAND, Fla. — Drew Anderson looked back at the scoreboard. He
h saw 98 mph. “Since I got here, I’ve jumped from 92 to 98,” Anderson
h said. The Detroit Tigers signed Anderson, a 29-year-old journeyman
h who has pitched in 19 games across parts of five MLB seasons, to a minorleague contract in the offseason. He spent the past two seasons in Japan, where he met his wife while working as a starter and a reliever for the Hiroshima Carp. His fastball averaged 92.5 mph with the Texas Rangers in 2021, his last year in the big leagues.
“I knew I had it in me, but I just didn’t know how to get it,” Anderson said. “Everyone is chasing velocity. We all want to throw 100 mph. Not being able to get it, it’s nice to have some instructors, like some guys who know what’s going on.”
The instructors: pitching coach Chris Fetter, assistant pitching coach Robin Lund, assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves and director of pitching Gabe Ribas.
Those four changed Anderson’s mechanics upon his mid-February arrival to Lakeland, Florida, for spring training. A lot has changed in the past couple of
weeks.
“Blocking that lead leg, and then the backside just comes whipping through, which is creating velocity,” Anderson said. “It’s two parts. The stop, and then the whip coming through. A lot of guys will fall off to the first-base side. That’s what I was trying to get away from.”
Anderson, who posted a 2.78 ERA across 1552⁄3 innings in Japan over the past two seasons, appeared in his first spring training game Feb. 27 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched two