Tyler Anderson Focused On Not ‘Trying Too Hard’

The Los Angeles Angels desperately needed a good performance from Tyler Anderson on Tuesday evening against the Miami Marlins. No Angels starter had recorded an out after the fifth inning in the first four games of the season, putting plenty of early pressure on the team’s revamped bullpen. And prior to Tuesday’s game, the Angels chose not to make a roster move and put their faith in Anderson.

The veteran pitcher — who signed a three-year, $39 million deal with the Angels last offseason — made that gamble pay off in a big way. Anderson tossed seven scoreless innings against the Marlins on Tuesday, giving up four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He needed only 83 pitches to get through seven innings. Matt Moore and Luis Garcia (save) closed it out in the Halos’ third consecutive victory since an 0-2 start.

It was arguably Anderson’s best performance as a member of the Angels. He spoke about the mentality he’s entered the 2024 season with and why he feels it helped him get success in his first start of the year, according to Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register:

“Honestly, I just felt like I wanted to make as many good pitches as I can,” Anderson said. “Go do it and whenever (Manager Ron Washington) said I was done, I was done. No goal of trying to throw more or whatever. Sometimes I feel like that can put you in a bad spot of trying too hard, as opposed to just trying to make as many good pitches as you can and see where you end up at.”

Angels manager Ron Washington was impressed by Anderson and believes the veteran starter set an example for what the rest of the rotation should aim for moving forward.

“It’s a huge boost for everyone, if we can get this kind of performance,” Washington said. “That’s what we shoot for out of every one of our starters.”

Anderson struggled mightily in his first season with the Angels, but the team stuck with him after signing him to a three-year contract. From the back end of the rotation, he showed that he still has it in him to be the player that turned his career around with the L.A. Dodgers in 2022. And it was everything the Angels needed to move to 3-2 on the season.

Ron Washington called team meeting for Angels

After dropping the first two games of the season to the Baltimore Orioles by a combined score of 24-7, Washington felt it was the right time for an early team meeting. Since that meeting, the Angels are 3-0 and have won their games by a combined score of 14-6.