As many suspected would be the case, Brett Anderson accepted the one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer from Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason. Anderson was one of three players in the Majors who agreed to re-sign on the one-year deal.
In doing so, Anderson bet on himself to remain healthy and test free agency after the 2016 season, when the pool of available starting pitchers won’t be nearly as deep as it was this past winter.
That didn’t end up working out the way he planned though, as early in Spring Training Anderson suffered a bulging disk in his back that required surgery and calls for a three-to-five-month recovery.
According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, despite the laundry list of injuries throughout his career — Tommy John surgery, strained oblique, broken finger and two back surgeries — Anderson remains confident he can enjoy success upon returning from his latest setback:
“Can’t feel sorry for myself,” he said. “I made the choice, I bet on myself and lost, but I hope I can make up for it. I told [Brandon McCarthy, elbow surgery], now it’s a race between me, you and [Hyun-Jin Ryu, shoulder surgery]. I’d still bet on myself. I have more confidence in myself than anybody but my family. All this stuff I’ve had to deal with has made me a better player and a better person.”
Last season was Anderson’s most successful year as in the Majors, and marked only the second time he threw more than 113 innings in a single season. The 28 year old was 10-9 over 31 starts with a 3.69 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 3.51 xFIP, 1.33 WHIP and an MLB-best 66.3 ground ball percentage. He set new career highs in starts (31) and innings pitched (180.1).
The Dodgers seemingly found their answer to replace Anderson in Mike Bolsinger, only for the right-hander to suffer a strained oblique. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman ruled out the possibility of Bolsinger returning prior to Opening Day.
Now back at square one, the Dodgers are considering Brandon Beachy, Carlos Frias and Zach Lee for the fifth starter job.
