Seattle.Mariners.MLB.com

By Jim Street / MLB.com

"I have always thought I would make it, and I still do," Ryan Anderson said. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

The Mariners' top draft choice in 1997, immediately nicknamed the "Little Unit" because of his resemblance to Randy "Big Unit" Johnson in style and stature, hasn't thrown a competitive pitch in more than four years.

"It has been a 100-mile tunnel and he has been trying to find the end of it," minor league pitching instructor Pat Rice said. "There was no end in sight for him, but there is some light now."

After another summer of rehab workouts in Peoria, Ariz., Anderson was in an upbeat mood before returning to Michigan, where he'll spend time with family and friends and continue a workout regimen that he hopes will put him back on track toward a Major League career.

"I have always thought I would make it, and I still do," the 6-foot-11 lefty said. "It has been a long, hard road, but I'm still only 25 years old and I plan to come to Spring Training and compete for a job."

The Mariners are encouraged by his recent progress and in September signed him to a one-year minor league contract.

"We're hopeful," Mariners minor league director Greg Hunter said. "We have put a lot of time, effort and money into him and he's a good kid who has been unfortunate with injuries. There is still potential there and we're hopeful of getting it out of him."

Anderson said he'll return to Arizona in January to prepare for the opening of camp.

"I like where he is right now," Rice said. "He is able to throw a bullpen session and go out the next day and play catch, something he was unable to do all summer. When you haven't pitched in four years, it's always going to be hard to say what's going to happen.

"But it will be interesting come Spring Training. He could go anywhere from making the big league club or being released. Personally, I think he could break camp with a team because of what I saw the last couple of weeks he was here. I hope it will happen."

When Anderson signed his first professional contract, at age 17, he was certain that he'd be pitching in the Major Leagues by now. There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

He advanced quickly through the farm system, starting out at Class A Wisconsin (152 strikeouts in 111 innings) in 1998. He pitched for Double-A New Haven (162 strikeouts in 134 innings in '99) and Triple-A Tacoma (146 strikeouts in 104 innings.) in 2000, being selected by Baseball America as the top Pacific Coast League prospect.

"If he hadn't been hurt, he would have been in the Major Leagues by end of that season," Rice said.

A sign of things to come emerged in the middle of July, soon after he started and pitched one scoreless inning in the MLB Future's Game, which was played two days before the All-Star Game.

Anderson had a 1.33 ERA in three starts that month, holding opposing hitters to a .169 batting average. He struck out a season-high 13 batters against Calgary on July 16, but he felt discomfort in his left shoulder. He went on the disabled list 10 days later, pitched two scoreless innings on Sept. 4, his final game of the season, and hasn't thrown a competitive pitch since.

Anderson has endured a long, hard and painful road, and his left shoulder has the scars from three surgeries to prove it. The first surgery repaired a torn rotator cuff and the other two mended a torn labrum.

"It pretty much has been hell," he said. "It seemed like every time I would make some progress, something would happen and I would get depressed and wonder if I'd ever be able to get on a mound again to pitch and compete."

Anderson realizes that a once-promising career could be hanging by a thread.

"I'm as upbeat as I can because I am feeling pretty good right now," he said. "But I can't be too upbeat because of what's happened."

While Anderson proceeds with caution, Rice senses that there is a sense of urgency.

"For whatever reason, I don't think urgency was there before," Rice said. "His work ethic has been very good down here and that was a problem early on. After his latest surgery, I thought it was poor, but now I think there is a feeling that he has to get going."

Is it now or never?

"I would like him to think that is," Rice added. "That's where the urgency thing comes in."

It helps that Anderson can actually play catch five or six days in a row for the first time in four years and throw hard without feeling any pain.

"It's hard to set a goal when you can't see a light at the end of the tunnel," Rice said.

Finally, it appears that Anderson can see the light.

Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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