St. Paul's Alum Rockets Toward Majors

Kade Anderson’s first full professional season has moved quickly enough that the question around the Seattle Mariners’ left-hander is no longer whether he can handle Double-A. Through nine starts for the Arkansas Travelers, Anderson has struck out 67 batters and walked seven in 44 innings, according to MLB.com. The 21-year-old is a St. Paul’s School graduate from Covington, Louisiana, and the Mariners selected him third overall in the 2025 MLB draft out of LSU. His performance has pushed him into the middle of the national prospect conversation less than a year after his final college season. ### How strong has Anderson’s Double-A run been? MLB.com reported on May 29 that Anderson struck out nine over 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Frisco in the first game of a doubleheader at Dickey-Stephens Park. That outing left him with a 67/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 44 innings and a 1.43 ERA in his first nine professional starts, while opponents were batting .171 against him. MLB.com also said he led all Double-A pitchers in strikeouts at that point and ranked fourth across the minors. (mlb.com) WGNO reported earlier, on May 7, that Anderson had opened the season with a 0.37 ERA through his first five starts, with 38 strikeouts, four walks and a .157 opponents’ batting average. The station quoted Anderson saying LSU helped prepare him for the jump because of “the professional aspect of baseball” in the Southeastern Conference. ### Why was Anderson already in Double-A to begin with? (mlb.com) The Mariners announced on March 30 that Anderson and right-hander Ryan Sloan would begin the 2026 season together at Double-A Arkansas. MLB.com said the assignment was notable because Anderson had not yet pitched in affiliated ball outside spring training after Seattle shut him down for the rest of 2025 following the draft. (wgno.com) MLB.com also reported that Seattle’s internal plan before camp had been to start Anderson at High-A Everett, but that changed after his spring showing. The outlet said the club cited both his camp performance and Arkansas’ less volatile early-season weather as factors in the decision. ### Where does he stand in Seattle’s prospect pecking order? Forbes reported on June 4 that Anderson had become Seattle’s top prospect while dominating Double-A. (mlb.com) MLB.com’s March 30 report had listed him as the Mariners’ No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 overall prospect at that time, showing how quickly his standing has risen during the season. Baseball America’s updated Top 100, as cited in a Yahoo aggregation published June 4, listed Anderson No. 9 overall and one of three Mariners prospects in the top 10. (mlb.com) That ranking does not by itself determine promotion timing, but it places him among the most closely watched pitching prospects in the minors. ### What has Anderson said about the pace of his climb? Anderson told WGNO on May 7 that motivation has sharpened his approach without changing his pitch mix. “I don’t want to be in Double-A forever,” he said, while adding that he believed “the time will come when it is supposed to come.” WGNO said his four-pitch mix remains a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. (forbes.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations, said in comments reported by MLB.com on March 30 that Anderson and Sloan were on a trajectory similar to Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo in 2023. MLB.com added that Seattle was not ruling out a jump to the majors later in 2026, though the outlet said multiple factors would have to break that way. ### Why has this resonated back in Covington? (wgno.com) Baseball-Reference lists Anderson’s high school as St. Paul’s School in Covington, Louisiana, tying his rise directly to one of the New Orleans area’s best-known baseball programs. WGNO framed his early pro success as a point of local attention in southeast Louisiana less than a year after he led LSU to a national title and went third overall in the draft. (mlb.com) For now, the next concrete checkpoint remains Arkansas. The Travelers opened Anderson’s season in Double-A on March 30, and Seattle’s own prospect coverage has continued to track his workload, which MLB.com said has been capped below 75 pitches in each outing so far. (mlb.com) (baseball-reference.com)