The 2021 World Series has to seem like a distant memory for a once promising Atlanta Braves phenom. It was in Game 3 that Ian Anderson pitched five no-hit innings in leading the Braves to a 2-0 win over the Houston Astros.

Anderson’s stat line was symbolic of his professional career in the Major Leagues. He pitched five innings, struck out four but walked three. As Astros’ skipper Dusty Baker said following the game, Anderson was “effectively wild.”

Fast forward to this year’s spring training and it looks like Anderson is no longer effective, he’s just wild. In one of the more eye-opening moves of the preseason, the Braves demoted Anderson to Triple-A.

It was a surprising move considering that Anderson was a viable option to stake claim to the team’s No. 5 spot in the rotation. But the very thing that has plagued Anderson in his career haunted him throughout his spring training appearances.

Anderson appeared in three games this spring and surrendered five earned runs on five hits in 7.1 innings. His eight strikeouts are phenomenal. His eight walks are phenomenally high.

It is a concerning trend that’s been evident in Anderson’s entire career and only worsened last year. He won a career-high 10 games but finished with a 5.00 ERA.

Most alarming were the 54 walks in the 111.2 innings pitched. A walk in every other inning allows baserunners that did not earn their way on base. It also elevates pitch counts which is why Anderson never seems to pitch past the 5th inning consistently.

Anderson obviously has the potential and stuff to be a bona fide ace for a team, as evidence by his first  two years in the big leagues. Who can forget the COVID-shortened year in 2020 when Anderson finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year voting, compiling a 3-2 record and microscopic 1.95 ERA.

A year later, Anderson finished 9-5 and tallied a 3.58 ERA in 24 starts.

But he did issue 53 walks that year.

Just as impressive is Anderson’s playoff resume. In two postseasons, Anderson is 4-0 in eight starts with a 1.26 ERA. But he has only managed 35.2 innings pitched, which included 17 walks. Anderson’s control must improve if he expects to have a lengthy career.

The Braves can bide their time in bringing Anderson back to “The Show.” They are stacked with starting pitchers for this year and years to come. As a result, maybe the Braves package Anderson in a potential trade at some point this year. Who knows?

But he has a lot of work to do to regain that form that made him a postseason hero.

That’s why this demotion is not just good for the Braves but for Anderson as well.