Life threw David Anderson '15 one big curveball shortly after he began his job as development coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But just like he forced hitters to do when he was a pitcher for the Muhlenberg baseball team, Anderson has made an adjustment.
 
Instead of working in person with Minor Leaguers in Southern California, Anderson is home in Atlanta conducting pitching workouts and analyses by Zoom.
 
Anderson spent about five weeks in Spring Training with the Dodgers, working with pitchers from all Minor League levels. Just before the camp was supposed to split up into teams, everyone was sent home because of Covid-19.
 
For Anderson, that meant a long drive back from Phoenix to Atlanta, where he had previously served as pitching coach for Emory University. It did not mean less work, however.
 
"We've been really busy," he said. "We've done, in my opinion, a really good job continuing to develop guys. We've had tons of Zoom meetings. We had a lot of educational sessions, teaching guys how to use our technology, how to create scouting reports, how to read pitch metrics, read swings, etc.
 
"We can't have lost time. Guys send bullpen video to our pitching coach; starters are treating their week as if it's a start week. We check with individual phone calls on top of the Zooms to see what they have access to, and then the performance staff tailors the plan for them based on what they can do."
 
Anderson has zoomed to the highest level of baseball in less than five years after a Mule career that saw him win seven games, save one and be named Centennial Conference pitcher of the week once.
 
He served as pitching coach at Muhlenberg for two years following his graduation, then spent a year at Cornell University before landing at Emory. In the summers, he played professionally for the Bridgeport Bluefish and New Jersey Jackals of the independent Atlantic League and was head coach for the Watertown (N.Y.) Rapids of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League and Fayetteville (N.C.) Swamp Dogs of the Coastal Plain League.
 
At his last collegiate stop, Anderson struck up a relationship with Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness, an Emory alum. After the two met at an alumni golf tournament, they began to bounce ideas off each other.
 
Last October, while in the Atlanta airport waiting to catch a flight to Pittsburgh to watch a Steelers game with his family, Anderson checked his email and found one from the Dodgers. They had his resume and an opening for a development coach.
 
"That weekend I filled out two questionnaires," he said. "One was a personal questionnaire, and one was a technical questionnaire, really extensive, really detailed. I had phone calls with personnel, performance science and player development. They flew me out to their Spring Training facility in Arizona, I had an interview there, and then they offered me the job when I left."
 
Anderson took the job in the first week of December. "It was a whirlwind for sure!" he said.
 
After coaching with Emory all through January and the first two games of the season, Anderson headed back to Arizona for Spring Training in mid-February. 

"I worked with everyone in Spring Training," he said. "It's a tough position to describe. You're helping out in a lot of different areas, which is good because it gives you the opportunity to learn in a lot of different areas."
 
Set to be stationed with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Dodgers' Advanced A affiliate, Anderson got to rub elbows with and pick the brains of such baseball minds as Charlie Hough, who pitched in the Major Leagues for 25 years, and Bobby Cuellar, another former Major Leaguer and veteran baseball coach and scout.
 
He also was in the bullpen a few times to watch Clayton Kershaw, but did Anderson coach the three-time Cy Young Award winner? "Not at all!" he joked.
 
Anderson grew up as a Yankees fan but has made a quick transition to bleeding Dodger blue.
 
"It's been one of the most exciting, humbling things that I've been able to do," he said. "The Dodgers organization has been incredible. Everywhere I've been, every coaching staff tries to create what the Dodgers have. It's not just the Dodgers team, it's the whole organization. I'm just soaking it up, learning everything I can. It's been special."
 
It's also been a culmination of his various stops along the road, each of which has contributed to his current style. So what did he learn at Muhlenberg?
 
"[Mule head coach Tod Gross] has been one of the most influential coaches I've been around, seeing how he builds culture and how much he believes in guys. That's been one of the staples for me, and I've taken that everywhere I've gone."