Here's What Seattle Mariners' Scott Hunter Had to Say About Drafting LSU Pitcher Kade Anderson

Anderson was mocked to go No. 1 overall to the Washington Nationals or No. 2 to the Los Angeles Angels according to several publications. Washington drafted high school shortstop Eli Willits and Los Angeles selected UC Santa Barbara lefty pitcher Tyler Bremner.

Seattle will sign Anderson for $8.8 million, approximately $700,000 under-slot value for the pick, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball.

"There was a couple surprises already," Mariners vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said after the selection. "I think we were prepared for all of them because we had interest in a lot of the players that went ahead of us and then went right behind us. But to say this worked out in the best-case scenario would be an understatement, since Kade was ranked pretty much No. 1 on our board going into this draft."

Anderson, in his first full season of college baseball, posted a 3.18 ERA this season with LSU. He fanned 180 batters in 119 innings pitched across 19 starts. His 180 strikeouts led NCAA Division I.

Anderson became the third player in College World Series history to pitch a complete-game shutout in the championship series, which he did in Game 1 against Coastal Carolina.

Anderson was on Hunter and Seattle's radar as far back as last fall, when Anderson still had only 38.1 innings under his belt with LSU. The team had a call with Anderson several months ago, where the southpaw told the organization's top brass that he wanted to be the best pitcher in the country.

Anderson's mentality impressed Hunter and the rest of the Mariners top brass. His desire to be the best and learn was something the front office felt made him a fit for the organization. The team has a high opinion on the potential of Anderson as a potential ace of the team in the future.

"I think when you take a pitcher that can command four pitches, they're plus on our scale, and you can touch 96 mph on the 130th pitch of a big game, I think the sky's the limit for guys like that," Hunter said. "And obviously it's something we believe in here, controlling the strike zone, attacking hitters and filling it up and don't be afraid to use your stuff. That's where we really kind of said 'this is gonna be a match made in heaven for what we do as an organization."

Anderson will likely become the third top-100 pitching prospect for Seattle. The Mariners' first and second-round picks from a season ago, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and right-hander Ryan Sloan, are both top 100 players according to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

"Obviously, pocketing (prospects) is great," Hunter said. "But when you have these kind of talented talented players that push each other — which you see with our big league staff right now — ... they all kind of feed off each other in different ways. And they challenge each other each day. ... When you can have pockets like that grow together in an organization that develops pitching as well as we do, a lot of good things can happen."

Anderson boasts a four-pitch mix including an upper-90s four-seam fastball, a curveball, a changeup and a slider. All of his pitches have a 55-grade or better and he has an overall grade of 60, according to MLB Pipeline.

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