One to watch

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane is known for his trading acumen and ability to recognize young talent. These skills have helped him transform the A's from the Hudson-Mulder-Zito era into a new age also founded on strong starting pitching.
In 2007, Beane traded ace righthander Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks for six players, one of whom was lefthander Brett Anderson. At the time, Anderson was a mid-level prospect with considerable upside. Two short years later, Anderson is one of the game's most promising young pitchers. Thursday night, the lefty turned in another fine performance against Texas in what has been a tremendous second half of the season.
Just 21 years old, Anderson has won 11 games with an ERA of 4.12 and a robust strikeout rate of 7.6 per nine innings. Walks, usually the Achilles' heel of young hurlers, haven't been much of an issue for Anderson. He's allowed 2.4 per nine innings and just 2.2 over his last 90 innings of work. The fact that he's increased his strikeout rate while simultaneously shaving walks is a great indicator of future success. Just as AL hitters should be figuring him out, Anderson has instead kicked his game up and become more dominant.
Scouts attribute the improvement to a simple increase in velocity. Anderson began the year working his fastball at about 90-91 mph. By June, he was throwing it at 94-95. That heater, coupled with a devastating slider, has made Anderson exceedingly difficult to hit. Once he begins to incorporate an effective change, this young man will dominate the American League.
Billy Beane doesn't always get his man. But this time, with young Brett Anderson, Beane has found a building block for the A's next postseason run.