Top pitching prospect Kade Anderson delivered a flawless performance on Friday night, throwing five perfect innings with seven strikeouts to lead the Double-A Arkansas Travelers to an 8-0 shutout victory over the Tulsa Drillers at Dickey-Stephens Park.
The 22-year-old left-hander lowered his season ERA to 1.27 and WHIP to 0.64 in his first Double-A start since July 3.
He needed just 56 pitches to complete his outing, not allowing a single baserunner.
Anderson was efficient from the start, needing only nine pitches in the first inning and six in the second.
He capped his night by striking out the side in the fifth.
Pitching coach Cameron Ming praised Anderson's growth and competitive drive after the game.
"He likes to be coached, he likes to be challenged. Any great competitor like that is never really satisfied with where their craft is at," Ming said.
"But after a performance like that, I'm at a loss on what I'll have to teach on my end."
Ming acknowledged the challenge of finding areas for improvement after such a flawless outing.
"Someone's gonna have to help me figure out what we're gonna have to work on this week," Ming added.
Ming also highlighted Anderson's improved changeup against right-handed hitters as a key factor.
"His execution of his changeup against righties has really come along and been a neutralizer for him," Ming explained.
"He's now able to throw it down and away and locate it well enough that right-handed hitters aren't able to pick it up, especially off of his four-seamer.
And against lefties, he's able to move his fastball around to the different quadrants to get passive hitters looking down and away for it."
Ming noted Anderson's aggressive approach from the first pitch.
"He knew he was facing a very talented and aggressive lineup and he came right at these guys," Ming said.
"He wanted to be more aggressive than they were and he flooded the strike zone and executed all of his pitches."
Relievers Lucas Kelly and Ty Cummings kept the perfect game bid alive into the ninth inning before an infield hit and throwing error with two outs gave Tulsa its only baserunner of the night.
Offensively, outfielder Jonny Farmelo hit a two-run homer and a two-run double, finishing with four RBIs.
Charlie Pagliarini added three hits, including a home run and two doubles, as Arkansas secured its minor league-leading 12th shutout win of the season.
