Draftees Chris Anderson, Tom Windle were rivals in high school

Dodgers draft picks Chris Anderson and Tom Windle sat next to each other in the team’s dugout Wednesday afternoon. No. 13 jerseys donned, the two young pitchers formed a potential look into the Dodgers’ future before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

However, it was also a look into the past. Anderson and Windle both played in the Northwest Suburban Conference in Minnesota and were the top two players listed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s conference most-valuable-player race three years ago.

“We’ve known each other since we were very little, which is pretty cool,” Anderson said.

Anderson, a right-hander, starred at Centennial High School before attending Jacksonville while Windle, a left-hander, went from Osseo High School to Minnesota.

“We knew that he could overmatch us,” Windle said of his team’s approach when Osseo played Centennial, “and we definitely had to change our style of play when we were up to bat,”

The two also played in the Cape Cod Baseball League last summer, Anderson with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and Windle with the Brewster Whitecaps.

So when Anderson, taken 18th overall in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, watched as Tommy Lasorda read out Windle’s name in the second round, he immediately shot his former counterpart a congratulatory text.

“I just happened to be walking by the TV at that point and, sure enough, [Lasorda] got my attention and he drafted this guy,” Anderson said, pointing toward Windle.

On Wednesday, the duo spent the afternoon meeting Dodgers players and coaches and getting a tour of the stadium.

Logan White, Dodgers vice president of amateur scouting, said Anderson has the talent to be called up later this season, if the team elects to use him as a reliever. Windle too, as a lefty-on-left specialist.

But the Dodgers don’t plan to rush either rookie to the majors, White said. Both are certainly capable of making quick ascents through the minors, but White said it wouldn’t do to bring them up so quickly.

“It would be a disservice to put [Anderson] in the bullpen at this time,” White said on June 6. “We could do it if we wanted to run a guy here quick like we did with Paco [Rodriguez], but I think the best thing for this organization is for him to start.”