Brett Anderson is an unlikely candidate to be the last man standing from the back end of the Dodgers rotation. By Owen Main

He was supposed to be the fifth starter. When the Dodgers took a flier on Brett Anderson prior to this season, they hoped he could stay healthy through most of the year, show some flashes of brilliance, and solidify the rotation as a guy who had a great supporting cast around him.

Then Hyun-jin Ryu got hurt. Then Twitter buddy Brandon McCarthy went down, and all of a sudden, Anderson became a the third best starter on a team expected to contend for a World Series this season.

When he was signed, I wrote a little about his wonderful Twitter feed. Now, things are getting a little more serious than that.

The baseball season is almost halfway through and Brett Anderson is still pitching — by all indications healthy and strong. While others have gone down around him, the lefty has lowered his ERA to 3.00 and been good for 2.0 WAR — on pace for about 4 for the season, if he can stay healthy.

His health remains a big if, but he doesn’t show any signs of slowing-down. He’s thrown at least seven innings in three of his past four starts — two of which were at least 113 pitches. Anderson has gone at least five innings in every start since the beginning of May, during which time he’s lowered his ERA by almost two and a half points. He’s quickly becoming a really reliable starter for a team that really needed him to be.

Last night, Anderson allowed just a single run over seven innings. The 27 year old struck out seven, walked just two, and threw “just” 95 pitches.

Whatever his performance for the rest of the season, and no matter what other starting pitchers the Dodgers manage to trade for, that at around the halfway mark of the season, Brett Anderson had performed WELL above what Dodger fans could have reasonably expected him to do.

Now about getting a little more starting pitching…

The other day I posted an entry complimentary of the entertaining Twitter feed of the Dodgers’ newest lefty, Brett Anderson.

The Dodgers’ other new pitcher, Brandon McCarthy, also is no slouch. Like Anderson, McCarthy has a similar twitter profile pic. I’m not sure how much one has to do with the other, but as a fan I love the solidarity.

The two both seem to have a good sense of humor. They both post about random crap that is neither self-serving nor baseball-related. It’s absolutely entertaining and they both add nicely to any Dodger fan’s list of Twitter follows.

While the back end of the Dodgers’ rotation is still in some jeopardy, two free agent pitchers have proven their social media worth. Here’s hoping their performance on the mound matches the entertainment value of their online personas.

If you examine these two works of art from their respective profiles, you can see that McCarthy and Anderson are basically twins in their “Dodgers” gear. Photos from Twitter.com.

The Dodgers’ deal with Brett Anderson was finally announced on New Year’s Eve, almost two weeks after he took his physical. 

In the time since the addition of Anderson was reported initially, I’ve added him to the group of people I follow on twitter. I have not been disappointed.

Anderson’s twitter page can be found here. It boasts an amazing photo of Anderson, with “Dodgers” gear on. If I said it was “Photoshopped,” Adobe would probably sue. There is also a picture of a shark, and a grumpy, frumpy cat that is pretty good. Anderson’s account is the kind of thing that lets you know that this is a guy who, at least off the field, doesn’t take himself too seriously.

He also seems to enjoy other sports and acts conscious of the world around him.

Anderson’s injury issues have been well-documented, but perhaps the Dodgers found themselves a sneaky-good addition. If Anderson can even pitch as well as he’s capable of for most of the season, he’ll be a solid contributor with a tremendous upside.

I didn’t know a ton about Anderson before, but if his twitter feed is any indication, we’re going to have a good time this season following his play on the field as well as his thoughts off it. Here are a few tidbits from New Year’s Day:

Rose Bowl= Heisman winner whose biggest fault is getting a speeding ticket vs Heisman winner who's an absolute moron.

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson_30) January 1, 2015

If this is how we start 2015…it's going to be the best year ever or the apocalypse is going to happen.

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson_30) January 2, 2015

Please God let Jimbo and Jameis come to blows on the sideline.

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson_30) January 2, 2015

First the Baylor kicker, now this. “@Kmarkobarstool: "If you don't calm the fuck down, you're goin to the bench" https://t.co/yRy4QsozGF”

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson_30) January 2, 2015

This is the top of Brett Anderson’s Twitter page. You should check it out. Via twitter.com.