© Stan Szeto | 2019 Mar 25
After Tuesday night’s “fun” experiment with starting an opener, San Francisco Giants fans can look forward to the debut of top-pitching prospect Shaun Anderson. The long-haired fireballer will make his first ever star against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, and with the excitement of fresh-blood in the clubhouse, Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow appeared on Murph and Mac this morning to talk about the expectations he has for the 24-year-old call up.
Krukow recalls seeing Anderson in the preseason, and remembers the young prospect going through some growing pains in the Bay Bridge series against the Oakland A’s.
“We saw (Anderson) in the Bay Bridge series,” Krukow recalls. “He’s got presence, number one. His a big fella. You watch his stuff; he’s got good stuff. The first inning he pitched he was kind of nibbling around, and put himself in hitters counts because he was thinking he had to be too good, which is a mistake a lot of young pitchers make.
“All of a sudden, he got a ‘screw you’ attitude and started challenging guys… and everything flipped over to his side.”
Krukow remembers being impressed, and even offered up some advice about the mindset a young pitcher needs to have after being called up to the show.
“When (Shaun) walked off that field after three innings, we were impressed,” Krukow said. “We said, ‘Oh that guys a big league pitcher, no doubt in our minds. I’m looking forward to this today. He’s a guy who’s built for innings, he looks like a starter, and I think what he proved on the night we saw him was that mentally he feels like he belongs up here. That’s the key.”
Krukow went on.
“You gotta believe you belong up here. You can’t come up here and wonder, ‘Jeez, can I play here?’ You gotta be ticked off coming out of the minor leagues, going, ‘I can’t believe these clowns held me down here so long. I’m going to come out here and show these guys I’m a badass.’ That’s the attitude you have to have, and that’s what we sensed he had.”
To hear the entire interview, click HERE: