Brett Anderson

Brett Franklin Anderson (born February 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

He played in the Connie Mack World Series with his amateur team after both his junior and senior seasons and in the 2005 AFLAC High School All-American Game, where he was the winning pitcher.

He also played for the US National 18-and-under team alongside Clayton Kershaw and Shawn Tolleson.

Anderson's career numbers at Stillwater were 22–8 with eight saves, 276 strikeouts and an 0.90 ERA.

He signed a letter of intent to play for Oklahoma State University where his father, Frank Anderson, was the head coach.

Anderson attended Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he was an all-state selection in 2006, his senior year.

He had a 9–0 win–loss record that season with a 0.37 earned run average ERA, 102 strikeouts and only nine walks in innings pitched.

Baseball America rated Anderson as having the best command of any high school prospect heading into the 2006 Major League Baseball draft.

and was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round.

He was torn between signing and playing for his dad at Oklahoma State.

He said that playing at OSU "would be awesome. It'd be fun to play with my buddies. I'm torn."

He also said that part of him wanted to prove that he should have been a first round pick.

Nevertheless, he agreed to a contract with the Diamondbacks that included a signing bonus of $950,000 with an additional $80,000 to continue his education if he wanted to.

The contract was finalized on September 1, 2006.

Anderson made his professional debut on April 5, 2007, as the starting pitcher for the South Bend Silver Hawks of the Midwest League, in a game against the Great Lakes Loons, whose starting pitcher was former and future teammate Clayton Kershaw.

He was 8–4 with a 2.21 ERA in 14 starts for the Silver Hawks and was selected to the Midwest League mid-season All-Star team.

On June 21, 2007, Anderson was promoted by the Diamondbacks organization to the Visalia Oaks in the Advanced-Class A California League.

On August 8, Anderson and several other Visalia players were involved in a car accident while en route to an amusement park, forcing the postponement of that night's game.

Anderson sustained only a mild concussion but one of his teammates fractured his skull.

He pitched in nine games for the Oaks with a 3–3 record and 4.85 ERA while missing some time due to some elbow tenderness.

On December 14, 2007, he was traded by the Diamondbacks with Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham, Carlos González and Chris Carter to the Oakland Athletics for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.

In 2008, Anderson was a combined 11–5 with a 3.69 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 20 games (19 starts) between the Stockton Ports in the California League and the Double-A Midland RockHounds of the Texas League.

In his debut for Midland, he struck out 12 batters and gave up two runs in six innings for the win.

He was selected to pitch in the All-Star Futures Game played at Yankee Stadium during the All-Star break and was named to the U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing.

He pitched seven innings to collect the win in the bronze medal game against Japan.

Anderson was a highly touted young prospect; in 2008 he was ranked as the 36th-best prospect in the Major Leagues, and in 2009 he was ranked the top prospect in Oakland's system and the #7 prospect overall by Baseball America.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2009 to 2021 for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Milwaukee Brewers.

Anderson was promoted to the Athletics as part of their opening day roster for 2009 and made his Major League debut on April 10, 2009 against the Seattle Mariners, allowing five runs in six innings to take the loss.

He picked up his first career MLB win when he allowed only two earned runs in six innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 20.

On July 6, he pitched a shutout against the Boston Red Sox striking out 9 batters, a career high.

It was his first career shutout, and his first career complete game.

On September 24, 2009, Anderson broke the Oakland Athletics single-season rookie strikeout record (previously set by Rick Langford in 1977), while racking up 6 strikeouts in 5 innings versus the Texas Rangers.

He finished the 2009 season with an 11–11 record, posting a 4.06 ERA.

He led the team in wins (11) and shutouts (1) and tied with Brett Tomko in strikeouts (150).

The Athletics signed Anderson to a four-year, $12.5 million, contract extension at the start of the 2010 season, which he began by throwing six shutout innings against the Mariners.

He allowed 3 hits, struck out 4 and walked 1, getting the win.

In 19 starts in 2010 he went 7-6 with a 2.80 ERA.

In 2011, after a June 5 outing, he was placed on the disabled list, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery which required 13 months of rehabilitation.

In 13 starts before the injury he was 3-6 with a 4.00 ERA.

Anderson returned on August 21, 2012 for the Athletics, allowing one run in seven innings for a win against the Minnesota Twins.