BRETT ANDERSON
which he went 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA and made just 16 appearances because of a sprained right ankle and a stress fracture in his right foot. It was a classic case of buying low for Colorado, which has slotted Anderson as its No. 2 starter.
“From the Rockies' end, they're probably getting him at a great time,” Oakland General Manager Billy Beane said at the winter meetings. “He's been through the Tommy John. He's always been motivated. He's a hard worker, and this is the time to get him, because the cost of acquisition a couple of years ago on Brett, well, there really wasn't one. He was an untouchable."
Ironically, the Tommy John surgery Anderson underwent in 2011 may help him succeed in Colorado. Without the overpowering fastball he once had — he still throws in the low 90s — he’s evolved into a sinkerball/ slider pitcher who had a better ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio from 2011-13 than all but four major-league pitchers. (Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler is No. 1 on that list.)
That’s an important quality to have at the mile-high altitude of Coors Field.
“Hopefully I can nullify the Coors Field effect,” Anderson said. “I’ve talked to other guys like Jorge (De La Rosa), but at the end of the day I’m still going to be the same guy and not let it change me, especially the way I like to pitch, which is to get ground balls.”
For Anderson, availability is as important as aptitude. All the Rockies pitcher, on coming back from an injury-marred 2013 season ground balls in the world won’t mean much if he spends more time on the disabled list than he does the mound.
That’s why last season was so disheartening. He started on Opening Day, throwing as well as he had since 2010, but then had the year derailed by the sprained ankle in mid-April and the stress fracture a month later.
“As a pitcher, you know there might be an arm injury and you get through that, but that makes the foot deal even worse, because you never expect to have something like that,” Anderson said. “The next thing you know, I’m in a boot and crutches and the whole nine yards, which made the whole thing really frustrating.”
Anderson did everything he could in the off-season to prevent another foot or ankle injury — “I’ve done strengthening exercises, drank some milk, took some Vitamin E” — but he knows there’s only so much he can do.
He has to prove he can stay healthy. He has to prove he’s no longer an “if” guy.
And that “when” is now.