This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PEORIA, Ariz. -- They’ve become almost attached at the hip.
Whether it’s ping-ponging in the clubhouse, dining in the cafeteria, attending each other’s bullpen sessions or at their lockers that are side by side, Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan have become fast friends.
And for the Mariners’ top pitching prospects -- who did not know each other until this past winter -- it’s a bond that should blossom into the next era of homegrown aces in Seattle.
“To see those two guys kind of coming together like they have in the camp, be very new together, but go through it together, I think that's important,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I think they can lean on each other. They can push one another. ... Just that communication that can go on between players to know that you're not alone.”
Anderson and Sloan were the headliners during camp’s early stages, when they went toe-to-toe with many of the Mariners’ sluggers bound for the World Baseball Classic. They then went on to pitch in a few Cactus League games and wowed with as-advertised stuff.
And though they’ve since been reassigned to Minor League camp, Anderson and Sloan will get one more chance to shine on a bigger stage when taking part in Friday’s Spring Breakout game that pits Seattle’s top prospects against Milwaukee’s.
Both are among the 10 pitchers on the Mariners’ gameday roster, which primarily consists of their Top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline. Anderson is Seattle’s No. 2 prospect and Pipeline’s No. 21 overall, while Sloan is No. 3 and No. 33, respectively.
“We kind of just work off of each other,” Anderson said. “We're kind of fighting against each other in some ways, and it's fun to battle against him. They're always super competitive. So just just being able to go in there and just kind of just talk and learn what he's got to offer for me. It's been a lot of fun. He's really smart. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and you can learn a lot from him as well.”
What makes their fast friendship even more fascinating is the drastically different paths that each has taken to reach this point.
Anderson, 21, has already shined in the spotlight, as the MVP of last year’s College World Series when leading LSU to the title. Sloan, 20, was drafted directly out of high school, and from Illinois, which isn’t exactly a hotbed for baseball talent. Anderson is left-handed and more the crafty type, listed at 6-foot-2, 172 pounds; Sloan is the prototypical right-handed power pitcher and at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds.
COMPLETE MARINERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
“With Sloan being such a younger player and not having the experience in college that Kade did, I think there's a lot to be learned there, too,” Wilson said. “So I think the two of them really having a good relationship is extremely important.”
Part of what’s allowed them to thrive is their surroundings.
It’s not just that they’re constantly alongside each other. They also have blended within Seattle’s five-man big league rotation -- and that’s been deliberately by design.
“The cool thing with those two already is how mature and their sense of belonging -- and not in an inflated way,” said Logan Gilbert, who on Thursday was named Seattle’s Opening Day starter. “But my first year, I was almost trying to fit in. And I told Kade right away, and I think I told Sloan, too, like, 'Just be yourself and know you're good enough and don't think, am I stepping on toes or whatever. You're a part of this group.'
“And it's not like we're trying to include them because they're 21 years old and we're supposed to be the older guy. It's like, they're part of the group. It's natural. It’s genuine.”
That brotherhood has rubbed off.
“It’s funny how just like me they are,” Sloan said. “They go about their work professionally and it’s just kind of how you look at it. I kind of just look at it like they do their work, I do my work. We’re very similar. There’s not huge differences between us. Obviously, they’re where they’re at, which is where I want to be in the future. So just being able to pick up on things that they do well.”
Talent has been the prevailing factor in why the Mariners’ rotation could have the sport’s highest ceiling, but it’s the culture that could be an even bigger difference maker. And the next two in line have already bought in.