Anderson graduated from Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas where he was a scholar-athlete.

In 2008, the Twins chose Tyler in the 50th round. But Anderson chose a baseball scholarship to the University of Oregon. He majored in political science.

In 2011, Anderson became Oregon's all-time strikeout leader (285). Tyler was 8-3 with a 2.17 ERA, and is tied for third all-time at Oregon with 17 career wins.

In 2012 and again in 2013, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Anderson as the 7th-best prospect in the Rockies' organization. They moved Tyler down to #11 in the offseason before 2014 spring training, and had him at #16 in 2015.

In 2012, he led the South Atlantic League in ERA (2.13) and WHIP (1.06).

Tyler has a good work ethic, solid athleticism, and impressive character. He takes his pregame preparation and video study seriously.

Anderson said he studies the mental side of baseball. When asked about that, he took a book from his bag titled The Mental ABCs of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement, by Harvey A. Dorfman. Dorfman, who worked as a consultant on the Major League level before passing away in 2011, wrote several books on performance improvement for players as well as coaches.

In 2014, the 24-year-old Anderson led the Texas League in ERA (1.98) for pitchers with more than 15 starts and posted a 1.15 WHIP in his 23 outings. In 11 second-half starts, he was even better, posting a 1.66 ERA in 11 games.

Anderson missed Spring Training in 2013 due to injury but got an invite to camp in 2014, when manager Walt Weiss got a chance to see him pitch.

"I've seen him enough to have a decent feel for who he is and what he does," Weiss said. "He obviously went out and had a tremendous season this year. [He is a] very good competitor. He's shown me the ability to pitch and shown that he has a feel for pitching.

"I think his velocity was up this year, so Tyler's in a good place." (Adam Lichtenstein - MLB.com - 8/29/2014)

In 2014, Anderson was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Year.

MLB debut (June 12, 2016): Not only was it the first time an Oregon Duck had been in the Majors since their baseball program was reinstated in 2009, but his debut was stellar. Anderson was called up when closer Jake McGee was placed on the disabled list. Anderson did not disappoint. He threw 6 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and just one run. (Justin Phillips/Fansided)

Tyler's goal since childhood has always been to be a Major Leaguer.

"If there is one thing I've always loved, it's baseball, for sure," Anderson said. "That's all I liked. I would play tennis with my parents or friends, and I'd golf all the time, but nothing compared to baseball."

And he had his boyhood heroes.

"I was a Greg Maddux fan because he was from Las Vegas and we always got a lot of Cubs and Braves games on WGN and TBS. Obviously when I was younger, I like watching Kerry Wood because he was the best pitcher for a while," Tyler said. "I remember from an early age, my dad would always take my older brother and me out hitting, and I had a lot of fun being at my older brother's practices. It was something that meant a lot to us."

The meaning became more significant when Anderson was 15 and his brother, Kyle, was killed in an auto accident.

"He was six years older, so it's not like we were super close in age, but you look up to your older brother," says Anderson. "He always wanted me to do well, so that's what I always thought about—that I wanted to make sure I kept him proud of me."

2022 All-Star Game: Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson replaced Giants starter Carlos Rodón for the National League. A seven-year veteran, Anderson makes his first All-Star appearance thanks to a 2.96 ERA in 17 games for Los Angeles. He will the fifth Dodgers player selected as the team hosts the game at Dodger Stadium.

Sept 17-20, 2022: Tyler was on the paternity list.

TRANSACTIONS

June 2011: The Rockies chose Tyler in the first round (#20 overall), out of the University of Oregon. He signed with scout Jesse Retzlaff for a bonus of $1.4 million near the August 15 deadline.

Jan 12, 2018: Tyler and the Rockies avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal at $2.6 million.

Oct. 30, 2019: The Giants claimed Anderson off waivers from the Rockies.

Dec 2, 2019: Tyler chose free agency.

Dec 4, 2019: The Giants signed free agent Tyler.

Dec 2, 2020: Tyler became a free agent.

Feb 17, 2021: The Pirates signed free agent Tyler. The deal is for one-year and $2.5 million.

July 27, 2021: The Pirates traded LHP Tyler Anderson to the Mariners for C Carter Bins and RHP Joaquin Tejada.

Nov 3, 2021: Tyler chose free agency.

March 18, 2022: The Dodgers agreed to terms with free-agent LHP Tyler Anderson on a one-year contract.

Anderson's 88-95 mph four-seam FASTBALL has good tilt and arm-side run. He also has an 87-91 mph sinking two-seamer. His 81-84 mph SLIDER has good bite. He has a solid 86-87 mph CUTTER (his best secondary pitch) that he gets inside on righthanded hitters.

Tyler also has a 76-77 mph CURVEBALL that is fringe-average but gaining consistency. And his CHANGEUP is above-average. It has good deception and fade.

Tyler can cut his fastball. And he can slam a slider on the back foot of a righthanded hitter. Darryl Scott a Rockies organization pitching coach helped Tyler make his cutter more of a weapon.

“He kind of helped me with not limiting things,” Anderson said. “A lot of times guys only like to throw cutters to one side of the plate or in certain counts and stuff. We kind of just expanded it . . . The more you have to work with, the less you are predictable, basically.”

While no pitch stands out, Anderson’s repertoire is enhanced by his command and deception as he hides the ball with a delivery that includes a slight pause and a leg kick . . . sometimes. He has at least three different variations to his lefthanded delivery. It is too funky to hit! Hitters develop horrible timing issues while facing Tyler.

“You can tell the way he goes about his business now and the way that he’s attacking hitters, he’s not really not guarding anything and not thinking about being hurt,” Rockies farm director Jeff Bridich said early in the 2014 season. “He can naturally be a pitcher again. I think that’s the great hope that. 

2016 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 37.9% of the time; Sinker 5.7% of the time; Change 28.9%; Curve 1.1% of the time; and Cutter 26.4% of the time.

2017 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 47.2% of the time; Change 29.7%; Curve .5% of the time; and Cutter 22.7% of the time.


2018 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 38.6% of the time; Sinker 5.6%; Change 22.8%; Curve 3.8%; and Cutter 29.3% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 92.6 mph, Sinker 91.9, Change 81.8, Curve 74.2 mph, and Cutter 88.2 mph.

2019 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 44.5% of the time; Sinker 3.5%; Change 26.2%; Curve 6.6%; and Cutter 19.2% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 91.5 mph, Sinker 91.3, Change 80.1, Curve 73.7 mph, and Cutter 87.2 mph.


2020 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 38.5% of the time; Sinker 8.6%; Change 33.2%; Curve 1.9%; and Cutter 17.9% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 90.6 mph, Sinker 89.7, Change 81.2, Curve 72.1 mph, and Cutter 85.2 mph.

2022 Season Pitch Usage/Avg. Velo: Fastball 38% - 90.8 mph; Change 31% - 79 mph; Cutter 22% - 85.6 mph; Sinker 7.4% - 89 mph; Curve 1.4% - 73.6 mph.

Tyler displays a solid feel for pitching—it is probably his biggest selling point. He is smart and analytical, traits that really help when you are facing big league hitters. He displays poise, impressive game awareness and is a good competitor.

He is tall, with high hips, broad shoulders and strength that offers potential durability.

Anderson has an easy delivery, but it has a deceptive herky-jerk backswing leg kick that's kind of funky, not at all fluid. The pause in his motion is too ingrained for him to change at this point. Besides, he hides the ball well. And he repeats his deceptive delivery well.

“Visually, it becomes a dilemma for the hitter,” Tulsa manager Kevin Riggs said of Anderson’s changeup in 2014. “And then when you mix in the arm speed, they’re seeing fastball and it’s just not getting there.”

He successfully pitches to both sides of the plate and is not afraid to challenge hitters on the inner half.

Tyler is polished. He takes a businesslike approach to carving up hitters and commands five pitches for strikes. He's adept at adjusting the game plan, as needed. He can dictate at-bats.

"He's been consistent,” farm director Jeff Bridich said. “He has been down in the zone. He has thrown all of his pitches for strikes—and for balls when he wants to. He’s done well in terms of conserving pitches, and that’s a credit to his aggressiveness and going right after hitters and utilizing all of his pitches. It’s just good to see him pitching well with health.”

Anderson is analytical, extremely competitive and has a good feel for pitching.

Anderson can be a solid #4 starter with impressive lefthanded pitch-ability.

2014 Season: Anderson earned Texas League Pitcher of the Year by topping the circuit in ERA (1.98), opponents' average (.216), and WHIP (1.11).

2016 Season: While we don’t know what the Rockies expected from the lefthander, they probably didn’t expect to see such sharp control and an ability to miss bats and keep the ball on the ground with a steady diet of fastballs, cutters, and changeups.

Tyler talks about his changeup:  “In high school, I tried to learn how to pitch by watching other people. And I was doing all kinds of stuff. I was dropping down, throwing from all arm angles, throwing sliders. Then I got to college. At the University of Oregon, they preached fastball-changeup. Not only that, in the fall you weren’t allowed to throw breaking pitches; you had to go fastball-changeup only. Then, just before the season started, you could start mixing in curveballs and sliders.

“Before that, I’d thrown a palm ball. Honestly. I would hold it in my palm and throw a palm ball. It was slower. My dad knew about it from back in the day — it’s an old-school pitch — and mine was actually pretty good. It didn’t have a lot of spin, and as you know, limited spin creates drop. Mine would drop a lot, but it was too hard to control.

“Anyway, Andrew Checketts and I — this was at Oregon — kept tinkering with grips until we found one that worked. It’s basically just a modified circle, although I throw it a couple of ways. One is slower than the other.

“Checketts — he’s now the head coach at UC Santa Barbara — was helping me figure out a way take more velocity off of it. My circle was pretty hard and a little straight, so we moved my middle finger over to create almost a double circle. That took a couple mph of velo off of it. The slower one has a little more drop, too. That’s probably because of gravity. It has more time to move.” (David Laurila - Fangraphs - April 8, 2019)

2020 Season: Anderson was healthy enough that he pitched a full season (helped by the pandemic-shortened season). And he was impressive enough that he now has a guaranteed big league job for 2021.

The Pirates made Tyler Anderson their first free-agent signing of the winter, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $2.5 million contract. He will step into the rotation slot vacated by the trade of Joe Musgrove. Between him, Steven Brault, and Mitch Keller, it’s probably a toss-up as to who will be the Pirates’ Opening Day starter.

Anderson, 31, threw 59.2 innings for San Francisco and allowed a 4.37 ERA and 4.36 FIP. By ERA- (101) and FIP- (103), he was basically a league-average starter, just like he was from 2017 to ’18. He allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last 10 starts, including a three-hit complete game thrown against the Diamondbacks on August 17.  (Tony Wolfe  - Feb 18, 2021)

2021 Season: Anderson has been incredibly consistent. No, not just in 2021 when he posted 25 straight outings of 5+ innings. I mean throughout his career. I’m throwing out the 20 innings in 2019 to see that he had a career 4.34 ERA before coming to Seattle at the deadline. Check his ERA over the previous three seasons:

2018 – 4.55

2020 – 4.37

2021 – 4.35

The guy just goes out and gives you 5-6 innings and 2-3 runs every outing. Doesn’t come out less, and doesn’t go longer too often. That’s what the Mariners were looking for when they traded for him. Someone who could shore up that final spot in the rotation and eliminate the need for the dreaded bullpen start.

Heading into the final start, Anderson was sitting at a 4.50 ERA with the Mariners. I’m sure some people have a sour taste in their mouth from his final few starts of the season, but there was easily more good than bad with Anderson. In a way, that final game can be thrown out. 

If you were the Mariners, would you want more out of a starter than you got from Anderson? Go back to expectations. The Mariners needed to shore up that bullpen rotation spot. Anderson came in and gave the Mariners seven straight games with 5+ innings. Right when it mattered too, as the playoffs were starting to look like a possibility. (Christopher O'Day - Oct. 4, 2021)

2011: A late signing and a sore pelvis limited Anderson to one bullpen session. So he did not make his pro debut until 2012 spring training.

September 2012: Tyler had a sports hernia repaired with surgery. He pitched with it much of the 2012 season. "The one place it didn't affect me was on the mound," said Anderson. "The way it affected me was that it altered my conditioning and weight training." He had surgery to repair it right after the season.

May 9-17, 2013: Anderson was on the D.L.

May 23-Aug 6, 2013: Tyler was on the D.L. with a left shoulder strain that cost him nine weeks.

Oct 2013: A stress fracture in his pitching elbow caused Anderson to miss the Arizona Fall League.

May 28-June 11, 2014: Anderson was on the D.L. with left elbow soreness.

Sept 12., 2014: Tyler was on the D.L. again when his elbow flared up again. It was a stress fracture (again).

2015 Season: Anderson began the season in extended spring, recovering from that second stress fracture in his left elbow. He ended up on the 60-day D.L., missing the entire season.

March 16, 2016: An MRI revealed that Tyler had a strained right oblique, sidelining him for a few weeks.

June 1-22, 2017: Anderson was on the 10-day disabled list with left knee inflammation.

June 26-Sept. 10, 2017: Anderson was back on the 10-day DL with a left knee inflammation.

April 7-22, 2019: Tyler was on the IL with left knee inflammation.

May 21-end of 2019 season: It was determined that Tyler would undergo surgery on his knee, ending his season.

2020: There are questions about whether Anderson could be ready by midseason 2020—if at all after becoming the first baseball player known to have had surgery to correct what is referred to as a chondral defect, damage to the cartilage that lines the end of the bones in the knee. (Editor's note: Anderson pitched in 13 games for the Giants in 2020.)