July 19th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman Right-hander Isaac Anderson made his debut with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Class-A Advanced California League on Monday, July 18. He faced quite a challenge matched up against hard throwing Joshua James of the Lancaster JetHawks.
The 22-year-old native of Boise, Idaho attended high school in neighboring Meridian, leading Rocky Mountain High School to a district and state championship in 2012. In his third season with the Grizzlies he earned first team all-conference and all-state honors and completed his academic pursuit as a 3-time all-conference academic honoree.
Soon after his high school graduation Anderson registered at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and played two years with the Golden Eagles.
In the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 34th round. He chose not to sign but to return to the Golden Eagles for another season.
Once again he was selected in the June draft following his Southern Idaho season in 2014. This time the Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the 19th round and once again he chose not to sign.
Following his sophomore season with Southern Idaho Isaac Anderson transferred to Wichita State University. He appeared in 15 games with the Shockers, 13 of them as a starter, compiling a 3.94 ERA in 77.2 innings while striking out 74.
Isaac Anderson
(Photo credit – Fernando Salazar)
On the final day of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft an impressive five Wichita State baseball athletes were selected by major league baseball teams. Isaac Anderson was one of them – drafted in the 40th-round (1,212nd overall) by the Dodgers – and this time he signed.
Following his selection, he posted on Instagram: “A moment I’ll never forget. The beginning of a new chapter in my life and I couldn’t do it without all of the support from my family, close friends, coaches and teammates. Can’t wait to start my career as a Dodger!!”
Anderson reported to the AZL Dodgers and made his first appearance on June 22, 2015 against the AZL Padres. He pitched a scoreless inning and tossed another scoreless inning on June 25 against the AZL Reds. That was to be last appearance with the Dodgers.
After two innings in the Arizona League he was promoted to the Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League. Anderson’s promotion came so quickly that there was no time to get his name on the back of a jersey. The fans in Idaho Falls watching him enter the game in the fifth inning against the Chukars saw “Torres” on the back of his borrowed Raptors jersey. They also saw him shut the home team down for two innings.
In his six appearances with the Raptors, Anderson pitched 12.2 innings allowing only one earned run and setting himself up for another promotion. On July 23, 2015 the promotion came and he started for the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League. In his debut with the Loons he held the South Bend Cubs to one hit over four innings. On the season with the Loons, Anderson made nine starts in which he posted a 2.41 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP while striking out 26 in 37 innings and walking seven.
Anderson was assigned to the Great Lakes Loons again in 2016. Over 81 innings through 16 starts he had an ERA of 4.22. His ERA was inflated by two difficult outings – one on May 25 and the other on June 15 – in which he surrendered 12 earned runs. On the flip side of the coin, he had 12 starts in which he averaged just over five innings a start and allowed two or fewer runs on each occasion. In his last four starts with the Loons he logged 23 innings and gave up only five earned runs.
The 6’2” – 185-pound right-hander has had a habit of providing a scoreless debut with each of his new teams as he moved up the Dodgers minor league ladder – having done so with the AZL Dodgers, the Ogden Raptors and Great Lakes Loons during his 2015 season.
His debut with the Quakes on Monday evening at LoanMart Field followed his traditional pattern. Anderson pitched five innings of two-hit ball, gave up no runs, walked two, struck out five and recorded his first win in the California League.
Anderson’s teammates provided more than enough support by pushing across eight earned runs against Lancaster starter Joshua James in his six innings of work. The 8-3 victory kept the Quakes two games behind the division-leading JetHawks and Lake Elsinore Storm.
Offensively the Quakes had ten hits – five of them for extra bases – including home runs by shortstop Erick Mejia and right fielder Joey Curletta. Third baseman Edwin Rios continued his torrid hitting with two more base hits raising his batting average to .372.
However, the player of the game was starter Isaac Anderson who easily bested Lancaster starter Joshua James and the first place JetHawks.
Welcome to Rancho Cucamonga Isaac.
Posted in 
I was quite excited when I learned that Isaac had been promoted to the Quakes and had hoped to make it down to Rancho for his Cal League debut, but I had some personal issues to attend to.
From what I’ve learned, he flat out dominated the JetHawks last night, with both of the hits he allowed being singles. In fact, only one baserunner reached third base off of him and that was the result of a two-out fielding error.
If the stars align correctly hopefully I’ll catch him during the next Quakes homestand. It better happen soon though, as I’m hoping to get another look at (and interview) Edwin Rios before he gets promoted to Tulsa.
This was a well-deserved promotion and continues to give credence that FO will push prospects until they reach that proverbial ceiling. Just a look at the numbers might lend speculation that Dennis Santana would be the one who got the call. But as you indicated, a closer look at the numbers shows that Anderson has been good to very good for most of his starts and shows good control. Santana and Michael Boyle have better ERAs but need to improve on their control before moving up. Imani Abdullah has the highest ceiling, but at 19, next year is soon enough for him to pitch in the California League.
Great Lakes has some good pitchers; Dennis Santana, Michael Boyle, Imani Abdullah, Mitchell White, and Caleb Ferguson. If the offense ever decides to show up, the Loons could make for a good story for the rest of the year.