Wednesday’s long overdue demotion of rookie Andrew Painter made one thing abundantly clear to the Philadelphia Phillies: they need more starting pitching. Painter being sent down, coupled with Aaron Nola turning into a piñata, has left the club with two untenable spots in the starting rotation. They don’t have the prospect capital to reel in an ace at the trade deadline, but perhaps old friend Drew Anderson, who is currently wit hthe Detroit Tigers, could help alleviate the issue.
Right-hander Drew Anderson made his big league debut back in 2017 for a terrible Phillies team that lost 96 games that year. The Nevadan hurler made his way into a pair of games and was torched for seven runs over just 2 ⅓ innings pitched. He received blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cups of coffee with the Phils the following two seasons, posting a cumulative 7.71 ERA over nine games with the team.
Anderson clearly wasn’t in the club’s long-term plans, and they cut him loose late in the 2019 season. He got brief looks with the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers (as well as the Australian Baseball League's Melbourne Aces) over the following two years, but was out of affiliated ball after that.
Asia beckoned to Anderson, and he went on to ply his trade in both Japan and South Korea for two seasons apiece. The right-hander was fantastic in both leagues, posting ERA marks of 3.05 and 2.91, respectively. His 2025 campaign was particularly dominant, as Anderson worked to a minuscule 2.25 ERA over 171 ⅔ frames with the KBO's SSG Landers.
Drew Anderson would be a perfect cheap stopgap solution for the Phillies
That magnificent showing earned Anderson another crack at the majors when the Tigers inked him to a one-year, $7 million deal with a club option for 2027. He’s put up solid results mostly as a bulk reliever, tossing 46 ⅓ innings with 3.88 ERA and 58 strikeouts. Anderson may have only started two contests for a banged up Tigers pitching staff, but he’s clearly capable of handling a larger workload considering he tossed 392 ⅓ innings during his four years overseas.
Anderson isn't necessarily the kind of guy the Phillies want starting a pressure-packed playoff game. Fortunately, they have a three-headed monster of Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo for just that purpose. What the Phillies really need is a durable arm capable of chewing through innings down the stretch to ease the burden on an overtaxed bullpen. It shouldn’t cost much to trade for a guy like Anderson, and a reunion with him would suit the Phillies just fine.
Add us as a preferred source on Google