As rumors continue to fly about the Detroit Tigers supposedly getting ready to trade their two-time Cy Young Award-winning ace Tarik Skubal, with no less a source than ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney reporting that the Tigers are “engaged with other teams in discussing the Tarik Skubal trade options,” the Tigers are going about the business of making moves to upgrade a starting rotation that Skubal may or may not be leading next season.
In fact, according to a report by Cody Stavenhagen and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic published Friday, the Tigers signed a pitcher who this season recorded more strikeouts than Skubal, who was second in baseball with 241, and a higher strikeout rate per nine innings than any major league pitcher.
But right-hander Drew Anderson, who has not pitched in the majors since 2021, accomplished his feats in the Korean Baseball Organization where he pitched for the SSG Landers in 2024 and 2025, after spending the previous two seasons with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Central League.
This season, San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease led the majors with a strikeout rate of 11.518 per nine innings. Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet placed second with 11.177 and Skubal close behind the Boston southpaw at 11.104.
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Anderson blew them all away in his KBO performance, with 245 strikeouts in 171 2/3 innings, a rate of 12.845 per nine innings.
Over two seasons with the Incheon, South Korea-based Landers, Anderson posted an impressive 2.91 ERA in 287 1/3 innings over 54 games, 53 of them starts. He fanned 403 for a strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate of 12.623.
But despite his eye-opening strikeout totals, Anderson is not a true fireballer. His four-seam fastball in the KBO averaged 95.2 mph, according to statistics posted by player development analyst Lance Brozdowski. His sinker sat at 91.3 mph. Together, those two pitches accounted for 63 percent of all those thrown by the now-31-year-old.
Brozdowski believes that Anderson — who has pitched 44 1/3 major league innings over four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers with a 6.50 ERA — profiles in MLB as “more of a multi-inning relief pitcher” than a starter. But according to the Athletic report, the Tigers see their new pitcher differently. They plan to use him in a starting role.
The Tigers have not independently confirmed the signing, nor have contract terms become public, other than that, per The Athletic, Anderson’s contract will be for one year and include a club option for a second.
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