Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Spring Training: Brett Anderson Throwing On Altered Schedule

Brett Anderson

A top concern for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason was to find starters to round out the back of their starting rotation and add more depth in light of the injuries that plagued them last season.



Although names like Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields were expected to be early contenders, the Dodgers came out of winter with two more modest starters in Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy. Both pitchers were much cheaper than the price tags of the bigger free agent starters, but what the organization saved in money they may gain in question marks surrounding the health of these pitchers.

That’s particularly true for Anderson, who fractured his index finger last season and underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. Also of note, he hasn’t pitched a full season since his rookie year in 2009.

Despite the uncertainty, Anderson is trying to return to normalcy this spring in hopes for a healthy season. As part of that process, Anderson isn’t throwing on the same bullpen session schedule as other pitchers, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

Instead, Anderson said he played extra catch Sunday and expects to throw a bullpen session Monday.”

Anderson added that the skipped bullpen session is nothing but a precautionary decision:

Anderson, expected to be the fifth starter, said he came out of Friday’s session feeling fine and the extra day between bullpens is a precautionary measure early in camp. He said he hopes to be on a regular bullpen schedule soon.

Anderson has previously alluded to his list of injuries a being bad luck, which falls in line with Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi believing the lefty will remain healthy moving forward. Working in Anderson’s favor is he rehabbed with the same physical therapist who helped Randy Johnson recover from a similar back surgery.

If Anderson manages to stay healthy, the Dodgers would appear to have a talented fifth starter at the back of their rotation.

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