LSU Baseball: National Champion Ace Kade Anderson Does Well As Starter In All-Star Futures Game

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Former LSU left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson is in the process of doing what the best Major League Baseball prospects tend to do – author a near seamless transition from college baseball through the minor leagues and into the Big Leagues.

Anderson, the Madisonville native who led the Tigers to the 2025 national championship with a 12-1 record, 3.18 ERA and a nation-leading 180 strikeouts in 119 innings, is basically doing the same thing with the minor league Arkansas Travelers – the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners in Little Rock. He is 8-1 with a 1.36 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 72 and two-thirds innings this season through 14 starts.

And on Sunday, Anderson averaged 94.3 mph on his fastball, topping out at 95.4 mph, in a 10-pitch, scoreless inning as the starter for the American League team in its 6-1 win over the National League in the All-Star Futures game in Philadelphia. Anderson allowed one hit, but got out of the inning on a pop-up, a ground out and a fly ball.

LSU Ace Kade Anderson Taken As 3rd Pick Of MLB Draft By Seattle

Anderson, 22, is expected to pitch late this summer for Seattle, which took him with the third pick of the first round a few weeks after Anderson was the MVP of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

“It was a really good experience to be playing with these guys around me,” Anderson said after the game. “I’m just trying to take it all in.”

Catchin' up with @KadeAnderson32 at the MLB Futures Game #ThePowerhouse | #LSUMLB pic.twitter.com/jQKjtBZINZ

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) July 12, 2026

Anderson, 22, also praised former LSU pitcher Paul Skenes, the first player taken in the 2023 MLB Draft via Pittsburgh after winning MVP at the College World Series a few weeks prior with the Tigers. Anderson met Skenes before Anderson was a freshman on the 2024 Tigers.

Suddenly, Paul Skenes is actually getting run support:https://t.co/Tz8JzS6nc4

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) July 13, 2026

“I’ve gotten to learn from so many guys along the way,” said Anderson, who was “I got to be around Skenes a little bit, so that was a really cool experience.”