He has previously played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Anderson attended Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he played four seasons of varsity baseball.

While serving as the assistant coach for the Oregon Ducks baseball team, Andrew Checketts discovered Anderson while pitching against a rival high school.

In 2010, his sophomore year, he was named to the Pac-10 All-Conference Team with a 2.98 earned run average (ERA) (fifth-best in the Pac-10), and his 105 strikeouts were a new Oregon single-season record and ranked sixth in the Pac-10.

[13] The stress fracture in Anderson's elbow prevented him from participating in spring training in 2015, and he also missed the rest of the season.

Anderson made his MLB debut the following day, allowing only one run in 6+1⁄3 innings against the San Diego Padres.

[17] On July 27, 2021, Anderson was reportedly going to be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor league prospects Cristian Hernandez and Abrahan Gutierrez.

However, concerns about Hernandez's medical evaluation caused the deal to fall through,[28] and the Pirates traded Anderson to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Carter Bins and Joaquin Tejada the next day.

After beginning the season in the bullpen, Anderson moved into the starting rotation when Andrew Heaney went down with an arm injury.

[34] Anderson finished the season with career-best numbers in wins and earned run average, posting a 15–5 record and a 2.57 ERA.

[17] He was a finalist for the NL Gold Glove Award at pitcher, but it was won for the third straight season by Max Fried.