As soon as he finished building up the starting pitcher, he won his first victory.
This is the story of foreign pitcher Drew Anderson . SSG released Robert Duggar on July 27 and recruited Anderson .퀸알바
Anderson played as a bullpen pitcher in the minor league this season. After joining the SSG, he needed to increase the number of pitches in order to play as a starting pitcher. He made his debut in the match against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on Thursday last week, and pitched three innings. He also pitched three innings in the match against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on Friday. In the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Incheon on Sunday, he pitched four innings to complete the build-up process.
Anderson started the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League LG Twins match at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 30th and won his first victory of the season by pitching well with three hits and three outs and seven strikeouts and two runs in six innings.
“I built up the starting pitcher. Now I will throw as many pitches as I can,” SSG coach Lee Soong-yong said before the game. “I personally hope he throws six innings,” adding, “I will gradually change the pitching pattern and give feedback. I think he will throw well today.”
As Coach Lee had hoped, Anderson showed good performance. He allowed a walk to leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki in the top of the first inning, but did not get a follow-up hit. In the second inning, he completed the three-out inning.
In the top of the third inning, Anderson faced his first crisis. After striking out Heo, he got a hit from Shin. Lee Ji-young blocked Shin’s attempt to steal bases and removed runners on base, but Hong Chang-ki walked and allowed Moon to hit an RBI double. The game was tied 1-1.
Anderson appeared to regain stability as he handled the top of the fourth inning with three outs. However, he was hit by a double by the first batter in the top of the fifth inning. The Jihoon Choi tried to catch the ball but got hit by a glove. Then, with Heo Do-hwan’s sacrifice bunt making it to the third base with one out, Koo scored due to Anderson’s wild pitch. Anderson allowed the game to come from behind. Then, he struck out Shin Min-jae and grounded out Hong Chang-ki to shortstop.
Anderson, who also took the mound in the sixth inning, gave up a walk to Austin Dean after two outs, but he came off the mound after catching Park Dong-won with a fly ball to the first baseman.
It was a 1-2 deficit. SSG’s batters saved Anderson, who was on the verge of losing the game. Choi Jeong’s two-run home run came from behind in the bottom of the sixth inning. Later, Eredia’s hit came out. After Han Yu-seom stepped back with a fly ball to the left field, Lee Ji-young’s real-base hit came out, and Eredia’s active base play shone. Eredia, who went to second base, checked that the third base was empty and sprinted. Austin threw to Choi Won-tae, who went into the base cover to catch Eredia, but a catch error came out. The ball fell back and Eredia came home with ease.
Anderson passed the baton to Noh Kyung-eun with the requirements for winning pitchers, and Noh Kyung-eun came off the mound without losing a point. Later, in the bottom of the seventh inning, the SSG batting line added four more points to seal the victory, and Cho Byung-hyun and Moon Seung-won came up one after another to protect the victory of SSG and Anderson.
After the game, Anderson was greeted with congratulatory messages from his teammates. “I feel great. The players also gave me water ceremonies. Winning is always a feeling that I have long aspired to win. I will continue to do my best to win many victories,” he said.
Anderson threw 97 pitches on the day. He mixed four-seam fastballs (49 pitches), slider (20 pitches), curveball (15 pitches), change-up (10 pitches) and cutter (3 pitches). The maximum speed of his pitches was 156 kilometers per hour.
“First of all, I thought a lot about putting a lot of breaking balls into the zone and using the four-seam fastball as a winning shot. I threw with the intention that I would play six innings,” Anderson said. “My goal was to throw a lot of strikes and pitch aggressively. I throw with that mindset in every game.”
The build-up is over. Now it is time to instill stability in the unstable SSG starting lineup. “Physically and mentally, I am fine. I need to see my next starting lineup, but I am in good condition in general,” Anderson said. “I want to throw a lot of strikes from now on and show my competitive performance. That is everything. I will show that kind of performance.”