PHOENIX (AP) — Chase Anderson says he is ready for Milwaukee’s opener at San Diego on Thursday.
He was 12-4 with a 2.74 ERA last year for a team with 86 wins, six back of the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs and one behind Colorado for the second NL wild card.
“I prepare like it’s another game,” he said. “It’s more heightened for baseball fans. I’m just going to go out there and try and set the tone for our team and get us a win.”
Last year’s opening day starter, Junior Guerra, left the game at Cincinnati with a calf injury.
“Our last couple of opening days, guys have gotten hurt on our team,” Anderson said. “That’s very unfortunate.”
Milwaukee signed free agent Lorenzo Cain during the offseason and acquired Christian Yelich from Miami.
“We just want to continue to build on last season and not put too many expectations on ourselves,” Anderson said.
Anderson credits manager Counsell with helping the quick turnaround.
“His motto is, stay connected as a team,” the pitcher said. “When you build relationships and build chemistry, that is going to feed over to the field and you’re going to play harder for your teammates. We knew we had something good in here and we continue to go out and prove that.”
