Ian Anderson makes the Braves a Postseason Team to Watch

Ian Anderson, 22, is a difference-maker, capable of reshaping what you thought you knew about this postseason the way rookie Michael Wacha of the Cardinals did in 2013. Anderson is so young he was three-years-old the last time the Atlanta Braves won a postseason series. He is younger than Google.

In his second postseason game, Ian Anderson pitched another beautiful game against Pablo Lopez. Of course, Lopez was previously destroyed by the Braves in the 29-9 shellacking over the Marlins. Anderson finished five 2/3rd scoreless innings, with three hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Travis d’Arnaud and Dansby Swanson led the Braves offense with solo home runs as the Braves defeated the Marlins 2-0. Atlanta now leads the series two games to none.

Ian Anderson 2020 Postseason

Ian Anderson dazzled in another shutout performance for Atlanta, and the Braves won a playoff series for the first time in almost two decades by sweeping the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-0 victory last week. It was Anderson’s seventh career start. He is the first pitcher in franchise history to start in the postseason despite making no more than six career regular-season appearances. Anderson struck out nine in six innings as the Braves snapped their record-tying string of losses in 10 consecutive postseason rounds since their last playoff series win in 2001.

2020 Season

Ian Anderson finished the season with a 3-2 record, a 1.95 ERA, 41 strikeouts, and a 1.08 WHIP. In late August, Ian Anderson was invaluable for the Braves’ decimated rotation. He was, without question, the most valuable rookie contributor during the 2020 season. Anderson had a 41-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in six starts and 32.1 innings. He helped stabilize a rotation that lost several key members because of injury or ineffectiveness.

Anderson out-pitched Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in his big league debut, allowing one run over six innings in the Braves’ win. Anderson followed by defeating the Red Sox at Fenway Park in his second outing. He became the second pitcher in history to defeat the Yankees and Red Sox in his first two career starts, joining the Indians Luis Tiant in 1964.

2020 AL East Regular Season Predictions Revisited

Anderson, the third overall pick in the 2016 draft out of high school, exceeded five innings in four of six starts, allowing no more than three runs in any outing. He provided the team’s best start of the season on Sept. 12, when he held the Nationals to one hit over seven scoreless innings.

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