He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2009 to 2021 for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Milwaukee Brewers.

[1] He played in the Connie Mack World Series with his amateur team after both his junior and senior seasons[2] and in the 2005 AFLAC High School All-American Game,[3] where he was the winning pitcher.

He signed a letter of intent to play for Oklahoma State University where his father, Frank Anderson, was the head coach.

[9][10] He was 8–4 with a 2.21 ERA in 14 starts for the Silver Hawks[11] and was selected to the Midwest League mid-season All-Star team.

[13] On August 8, Anderson and several other Visalia players were involved in a car accident while en route to an amusement park, forcing the postponement of that night's game.

[16] On December 14, 2007, he was traded by the Diamondbacks with Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham, Carlos González and Chris Carter to the Oakland Athletics for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.

[24] Anderson was promoted to the Athletics as part of their opening day roster for 2009[25] and made his Major League debut on April 10, 2009, against the Seattle Mariners, allowing five runs in six innings to take the loss.

[26] He picked up his first career MLB win when he allowed only two earned runs in six innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 20.

[7] The Athletics signed Anderson to a four-year, $12.5 million, contract extension at the start of the 2010 season,[31] which he began by throwing six shutout innings against the Mariners.

[32] In 2011, after a June 5 outing, he was placed on the disabled list, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery which required 13 months of rehabilitation.

[7] Despite his limited action during the regular season, the Athletics put him on the playoff roster for the 2012 American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers.

[7] He also appeared in relief in game four of the 2013 American League Division Series against the Tigers, allowing the two winning runs to score on a walk, wild pitch and double.

[46] In just his third start of the season, on April 12, 2014, Anderson broke his index finger while batting, sending him again to the disabled list.

[63] He made three starts and one relief appearance for the Dodgers in September and was 1–2 with an 11.91 ERA for the season, allowing 15 earned runs in 11 1⁄3 innings.

On August 15, 2017, Anderson signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

[78] On December 16, 2022, Anderson announced he wanted to return to MLB, and was participating in offseason training with Clayton Kershaw to stay in shape.

His fastball sits in the 89-92 mph range and he offers a two-seam variety in addition to the traditional four-seam version.

His best pitch is the slider, a two-plane breaking ball he can paint on the corner versus right-handed batters and sweep away from lefties in the 79-81 mph range.

His low-to-mid 70s curveball is a weapon in any count and his 82-84 mph changeup has shown the most improvement as Anderson has fought his way through injuries.