Nick Anderson keeps racking up awards.
The Tampa Bay Rays right-hander and Brainerd Warriors graduate finished off his second season in the majors, which ended in him pitching in the World Series.
Anderson posted a 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 innings in the 19 games he played in 2020. He struck out 26 and walked three.
He allowed one earned run all regular season and it came in his 15th appearance and 13th inning pitched.
His stellar 2020 regular season earned him a spot on the All-MLB first team as one of the two relief pitchers. The All-MLB winners are selected with 50% coming from a fan vote and 50% coming from a panel of experts. It’s the second season MLB has announced an All-MLB team.
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In the 2020 postseason, Anderson pitched 14 2/3 innings and posted a 5.52 ERA with nine strikeouts. He appeared in three World Series games.
Anderson started his major league career as a rookie in 2019 with the Miami Marlins. After being a reliable bullpen arm for the Marlins he was traded at the trade deadline to the Tampa Bay Rays and in the middle of a playoff race.
With the Rays at the end of the 2019 season, Anderson recorded a 17.3 K/9 rate with 41 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. He appeared in four postseason games in 2019 and pitched 4 1/3 innings.
As a rookie, he was named to the 2019 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. He also was named 2019 Upper Midwest Player of the Year by the Minnesota Twins — the award is given to the best player no matter who they play for.
Anderson started playing professional baseball in 2015 in the Minnesota Twins organization. He was a Triple-A all-star while playing with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings.
Prior to the 2019 season, the Twins traded Anderson to the Marlins for Brian Schales.
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
