Mariners top pitching prospects Kade Anderson, Ryan Sloan to open season in Double-A

SEATTLE – Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan met for the first time this winter. They pitched in the Mariners “Shove Camp” together in January and their lockers were next to each other in the Mariners’ big-league clubhouse during spring training.

Now the new friends will get to share their first season together.

And it’s not entirely out of the question that they could make their way to Seattle together by the end of the season.

In a bit of a surprise, the Mariners announced Monday that Anderson and Sloan, the club’s top two pitching prospects, will open the season headlining the starting rotation at Class AA Arkansas.

Early on in spring training, the club had tentatively planned to have Anderson and Sloan begin the year in High-A Everett, as a way to ease them into the season.

Instead, both proved during spring training that they were ready for an advanced assignment.

The better weather conditions in Arkansas — and throughout the Texas League — were also factors for the Mariners when deciding where to assign their top pitching prospects.

Anderson, a 21-year-old left-hander, was the Mariners’ No. 3 overall pick in the MLB draft last summer after he led LSU to the Men’s College World Series championship. His first start for Arkansas will be his professional debut.

Anderson was the Baseball American College Pitcher of the Year in 2025, and scouts have often compared him to New York Yankees lefty Max Fried (who will pitch against the Mariners on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park).

“He’s got, as we’ve mentioned before, just that wisdom beyond his years, his competitiveness, his ability to bounce back,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said this spring. “All those things that you sometimes don’t see in young players, I think you see from Kade. He’s a pretty determined individual, and that’s the part that’s really exciting.”

No one in the Mariners organization opened more eyes during spring training than Sloan, a 20-year-old right-hander whom the Mariners selected out of an Illinois high school in the second round in 2024.

At 6-feet-5 and 220 pounds, Sloan has been compared to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, among others.

Trent Blank, the Mariners director of pitching strategy, had obviously seen and heard the glowing reports from Sloan’s first 21 professional starts last season in Low-A and High-A. This spring, Blank got to assess for himself working closely with Sloan.

“You’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is real stuff,’” Blank said.

Sloan added a two-seam fastball to his arsenal this offseason, giving him two fastballs that touch the upper 90s.

Sloan was dominant over three perfect innings against the Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospects in MLB’s Spring Breakout game on March 20. He maxed out at 99.5 mph and averaged 97.9 mph — and he’s said he considers his changeup his best pitch.

Talent evaluators see Sloan as the Mariners’ best 20-or-younger pitching prospect since Félix Hernández.

For an organization that champions a Dominate the Zone pitching principles, Sloan and his strike-throwing efficiency fit in perfectly.

“We’re going to challenge him, and he wants to be challenged,” Blank said. “But we’re going to challenge him to take that execution a step further — not just control, but see if we can find some command.

“And I think he’s going exceed expectations, because that’s what he’s done for us every step of the way.”

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto this spring used Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller’s situation in 2023 as a parallel for the newest pitching prospects. Woo and Miller were both called up to Seattle from Class AA Arkansas midway through that season as injuries to the Mariners’ staff mounted.

If needs arise, Dipoto didn’t rule out a similar trajectory for Anderson and Sloan this season.