According to his transaction tracker on MLB.com, the Philadelphia Phillies have signed right-hander Shaun Anderson to a minor league contract. The 28-year-old spent the first half of the 2023 season in the Korean Baseball Organization, pitching for the Kia Tigers. Dan Kurtz of MyKBO recently reported that he was placed on waivers and ultimately released.
Phillies sign RHP Shaun Anderson to minor league contract
A former third-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 MLB Draft, Anderson spent a few years in the Red Sox minor league system before being dealt to the San Francisco Giants in 2017. He broke into the big leagues with the Giants in 2019, making a career-high 28 appearances (16 starts) with a 3-5 record, 5.44 ERA, 4.77 FIP and 77 ERA+.
From there, the results in the major leagues did not get much better. In four years, he has suited up for the Giants, Twins, Orioles, Padres and Blue Jays and has yet to experience much success or much of an extended look, period.
However, that does not mean that there's no hope for the hurler. Over the years, he has shown brief glimpses of promise, including as recently as last season when he was one of the better Triple-A starters in the Blue Jays' system. He made 36 appearances (15 starts) and had a 3.58 ERA in 88 innings of work. While Anderson is never going to be a huge strikeout pitcher, he does an efficient job of inducing groundballs and had been able to limit home runs in a big way this year for the Kia Tigers.
At the end of the day, this signing is likely nothing more than a pure depth move. You know, the ones that warrant a "who?!" from the fanbase? Yeah, one of those. But it's important to note that these signings definitely do serve a purpose. Filling the high minors with arms that have big league experience is huge, so Anderson will join T.J. Zeuch and Drew Hutchison on a LehighValley pitching staff that has a ton of experienced arms on hand.