With Max Fried and Charlie Morton departing in free agency, combined with Spencer Strider‘s injury, the Braves have had an open competition among internal candidates for the final two spots on the Opening Day roster.

With the Atlanta Braves needing to round out its starting rotation heading into Opening Day, they could be thrust into an awkward position by giving struggling veteran Ian Anderson one of two spots to start.

Over eight innings pitched across three starts, Anderson has a 1.13 ERA with five strikeouts. He’s held hitters to a .080 average. But on the flip side, he has a 1.38 WHIP because he’s allowed nine walks. Including that hit by pitch, that’s 10 free passes.

Ian Anderson allows two runs and strikes out one batter over four innings in his Spring Training start against the Orioles

Despite please from the Atlanta Braves fanbase throughout the offseason, Alex Anthopoulos has still not done anything to bolster the club's rotation. That would

Right-hander Ian Andersonw was a big reason why. Anderson shut down the Miami hitters over the first three innings of Friday's affair. Two walks were the only Marlins he allowed to reach base. Miami also had a hitter reach on an error.