Phillies add more pitching depth as they agree to terms with Chase Anderson

RHP Chase Anderson and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed on a one-year major-league deal worth $4 million as the team continues to add more pitching depth.

Anderson, 33, was drafted in the ninth round of the 2009 draft. He went on to debut five years later with the Arizona Diamondbacks. That year, 2014, the Texas native finished 10th in the Rookie of the Year award race, going 9-7 with a 4.01 ERA and 105-40 strikeouts-to-walks ratio spanning 21 starts and 114 1/3 innings.

After his final season with the Diamondbacks in 2015, Anderson went on to pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers (2016-19) and the Toronto Blue Jays (2020).

Through 10 appearances and seven starts in 2020, Anderson went 1-2 with a career-high 7.22 ERA and 1.634 WHIP. His best season came in 2017, going 12-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.090 WHIP.

Overall, the right-hander has gone 54-42 with a 4.06 ERA in his career.

Matt Moore and Anderson will compete this spring for a spot in the back end of the rotation with Spencer Howard, Vince Velasquez, Ranger Suarez, and others. Minor-league, non-roster invitee Ivan Nova will also get a look.

If Howard bounces back in 2021 after a disappointing rookie season and becomes a fixture in the rotation for years to come, complementing Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin. Therefore, that would leave many arms vying for just one spot, unless the Phillies decide to have a six-man rotation to try to limit innings — as pitchers adjust from a 60-game sprint to a potential 162-game marathon.

Anderson and the rest of Phillies pitchers and catchers are set to have their first workout in a couple of weeks in Clearwater, Florida.