Ryan Speier #23

Ryan Andrew Speier...graduated from West Springfield (VA) High School in '97...was an All-State, All-Region, All-Metro and All-District baseball player...also played football...majored in psychology during 4 seasons of college ball at Radford (VA) University...went 8-14 with 12 saves and 5.09 ERA for the Highlanders...joins RHP Phil Leftwich (9-17 with a 4.99 ERA in 34 career starts for ANA, 1993-96) as Radford's only 2 big leaguers...was a Cape Cod League All-Star in 2001...in January of 2010, presented with MLB Hometown Hero Award by The Home Plate Club, a DC non-profit organization whose objective and purpose is to promote the interest of baseball amongst the youth in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

2009

Pitched in just 5 games in 4th and final season with the Rockies...worked scoreless ball just twice in the 5 appearances... did not allow a home run...missed more than 3 months due to right shoulder injury...made rehab assignments with Double-A Tulsa and Single-A Modesto.

2008

Set several career highs in what was his most extensive Major League experience after begin- ning the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs...was his 3rd season to pitch in the Majors, but his first to pitch in more than 22 games...set career highs in appearances (43), innings (51.0) and strikeouts (33)...limited opponents to a .272 (52-for-191) avg., with lefties at .272 (22-for-81) and righties at .273 (30- for-110)...his best months were his first and last of the season; owned a 2.38 ERA (11.1 ip, 3 er) in 10 appearances during April and finished the season with a 11.2 scoreless innings streak which spanned all 10 games he appeared in during September...combined to go 2-0 with a 6.43 ERA (28.0 ip, 20 er) in 23 games from May-August...posted a lower ERA (3.41) in 22 road games (29.0 innings) than he did at home (4.91) in 21 appearances (22.0 innings)...inherited 29 runners in '08, the most by any Rockies pitcher (10 scored; 34.5%)...the Rockies went just 10-33 in the games he appeared in...Speier had 4 separate stints on the Rockies active roster in 2008...he was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on 4/6 when RHP Luis Vizcaino was placed on the 15-day disabled list and remained on the Rockies active roster until he was placed on the 15-day DL with a bruised right rotator cuff...was reinstated from the DL on 6/3 and remained with the Rockies until he was optioned to Triple-A on 7/1...was recal l ed agai n on 7/11, but then was optioned to Colorado Springs 7/28...returned to the Rockies on 8/20 and spent the remainder of the sea- son on the active roster...began the season by allow- ing just one run over his first 6 games (8.0 innings) through 4/20...tossed 3.0 scoreless innings from innings 16-18 in the Rockies; 2-1, 22-inning victory on 4/17 at San Diego; it was one of 3 games in which Speier pitched 3.0 or more innings, but his only one of the 3 games to not allow a run...took his first loss on 4/30 at SF, allowing a solo home run to Jose Castillo in the 7th inning; was one of just 3 home runs he allowed, tied with Brian Fuentes for the 2nd-fewest home runs P E IE R allowed by a Rockies reliever in '08...earned his first win of the season 5/7 vs. STL in the Rockies 4-3 vic- tory; tossed a scoreless 8th inning, then benefited by the Rockies scoring all 4 runs in the 8th to take the victory...allowed at least one run in 5 of his 6 appearances prior to being optioned back to Colorado Springs on 7/1...returned to the Rockies 8/20 and made his first appearance for the club 8/22 vs. CIN, surrender- ing one run in 0.2 inning...earned his 2nd win of the season in his next game 8/24 vs. CIN by tossing a scoreless 12th inning in the Rockies 4-3 win in 12 innings on Omar Quintanilla's walk-off solo home run...began an 11.2 scoreless inning streak with a perfect frame 9/3 vs. SF...has allowed just 5 hits during his streak that will carry over to 2009...made 11 appearances for Triple-A Colorado Springs, going 1-0 with 5 saves in 5 opportunities and 9 strikeouts...allowed one in 3 of his 11 appearances for the Sky Sox, and never allowed more than one run in a game...PCL opponents hit .208 (10-for-48) against him, with lefties at .200 (5-for-25) and righties at .217 (5-for-23).

2007

Pitching in his first full season since 2005, Speier went 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA (18.0 ip, 8 er) in 20 games for the Rockies...did not convert his lone save opportunity...spent most of the season with Triple-A Colorado Springs, but was recalled by the Rockies on 4 different occasions: April 21-28, May 28, Aug. 6- 12, and Sept 2-end of season...allowed just one run in 6.0 innings (1.50 ERA) over six games on the road, but gave up sevenruns in 12.0 innings (5.25 ERA) over 14 home games...was unscored upon in 14 of 20 games...was recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 21 and appeared in game that night vs. San Diego...allowed one run in the seventh inning of Colorado's 7-3 loss...marked his first appearance in a Major League game since Sept. 29, 2005 at New York-NL...with his outing on April 21, set a franchise record for the most scoreless innings without allowing a home run to begin a big league career...his 25.2 innings surpassed the previous record held by Javier Lopez, who began his career with 25.0 homerless innings in 2003...Speier's streak ended quickly however, as he allowed his first home run of the season in just his third appearance on April 27 vs. Atlanta...gave up a two-run homer to Andruw Jones in the sixth inning...following that game was optioned to Colorado Springs...was recalled for one game on May 28, although he did not appear in that contest...was recalled two more times beginning in early Aug. and remained with club after final recall on Sept. 2...went 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA (6.1 ip, 5 er) in seven relief appearances over his first three stints with the Rockies...Major League opponents hit .444 (12-for-27) in those games...since Sept. recall, held opponents scoreless in 11 of 13 games to lower season figure from 7.11 to 4.00...all three of his victories came over his final seven appearances...his win on Sept. 18 vs. Los Angeles (G2) marked his first victory since Sept. 26, 2005...spent the rest of the year with Colorado Springs, going 1-4 with a 4.38 ERA (49.1 ip, 24 er) in 50 games...converted 33 of 38 save opportunities (86.8%), the most saves in the Pacific Coast League...only five Minor Leaguers had more saves than Speier in 2007...held PCL batters to a .253 (47-for-186) average with 23 walks and 40 strikeouts...allowed runs in his first two appearances, but then tossed 12.0 scoreless innings from April 15-May 19, lowering season figure from 13.50 to 1.93...was 16-for-16 in save chance from June 9-Aug. 13...streak snapped on Aug. 15 vs. Las Vegas as he took loss and blown save, allowing five runs in 1.0 inning...gave up four runs over his last 7.0 innings to rise from 4.25 to 4.38.

2006

Spent the year rehabbing from shoulder surgery...had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder on Feb. 1, 2006...surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Noonan at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Greenwood Village, Colo...did not make any rehab appearances, but worked with Rockies trainers throughout the season and pitched for Grand Canyon Rafters in the Arizona Fall League...had no record and a 4.50 ERA (8.0 ip, 4 er) with 11 strikeouts against just two walks over eight relief appearances in the AFL...opposing batters hit just .179 (5-for-28)...four of five hits and all four runs allowed came in next-to-last outing, Nov. 7 vs. Mesa...outside of the stay with Grand Canyon last fall, Speier's last appearance in a professional game came Sept. 29, 2005 at New York-NL.

2005

A member of the Rockies' Opening Day roster, Speier made his major league debut with 3 stints for Colorado...had never pitched above the Double-A level before he became one of 4 rookies with no big league experience on the Rockies' season opening roster...in his 3 stints with Rockies, combined to go 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA (24.2 ip, 10 er) in 22 relief appearances...spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Colorado Springs...was with Colorado from beginning of season-April 27, Aug. 8-15, and Sept. 6-end of season...did not allow a home run in 24.2 innings, 3rd-most innings in the majors without permitting a long ball...is also the 2nd-most innings by any Rockies pitcher without allowing a home run at the start of a career, just 0.1 inning shy of matching Javier Lopez's club record...recorded the victory on Opening Day, April 4 vs. San Diego, in what was his major league debut...Ryan became the 7th player in franchise history to win his major league debut, but only the 2nd to do so in relief, joining Marcus Moore (July 9, 1993 at St. Louis)...according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Speier became only the 4th pitcher since 1960 to win on Opening Day while making his major league debut...was recalled for a final time on Sept. 6 when the PCL season ended...made 9 appearances the rest of the way, going 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA (11.2 ip, 2 er)...spent the rest of the year with Colorado Springs, going 2-2 with 6 saves and a 4.99 ERA over 45 relief appearances in his first action at Triple-A.

2004

Won the Rolaids Relief Man Award for all of minor league baseball, the first pitcher in organizational history to earn that honor...led the Rolaids standings for every month of the season to finish with 115 points...the right-hander set a Tulsa and Rockies minor league record with 37 saves, converting 37-of- 40 (93%) opportunities...he led the Class AA Texas League in saves and fell just one shy of equaling the league record of 38 set by El Paso's Sean Maloney in 1996...only two other minor leaguers had more saves in 2004, Richmond's Matt Whiteside and Winston- Salem's Dwayne Pollok, both with 38...appearing in a league-high 61 games, Ryan posted a 3-1 record with a 2.04 ERA...held opponents to a .153 average against, lowest among all minor league relievers...allowed only 33 hits and 3 home runs in 62.1 innings (215 AB)...named to the Texas League's mid-season and post-season all-star teams and tabbed by Baseball America as the circuit's "Best Reliever"...was successful in 35 of his first 36 saves opportunities...converted a Texas League-record 27 consecutive saves from May 7-Aug. 17...had the streak snapped with a blown save on Aug. 18 vs. Round Rock, marking the first time Tulsa had lost when leading after eight innings at Drillers Stadium since May 8, 2001...honored as Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Month for both June and July...he was 0-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 9 saves in June and 1-0 with a 0.67 ERA and 8 saves in July...he held the opposition to a .111 average against in each of those two months (both 5-for-45)...recorded his 27th save on July 3, breaking the Tulsa club record for saves in a single season (26 by Justin Huisman in 2003)...did not allow a run for 18 consecutive appearances (17.0 innings) from June 3-July 10 and gave up just 1 run over a span of 31 appearances and 30.2 innings from June 3-Aug. 17...made one scoreless appearance during the Drillers' playoff loss to Frisco...pitched in the Arizona Fall League, going 0-3 with a 7.27 ERA in 15 games for the Mesa Solar Sox.

2003

Despite not moving into the closer's role until mid-June, Ryan still went on to rank third in the California League with 18 saves while finishing runner-up for the league's Rolaids Relief Man Award with 58 points...he was 4-2 with a 1.53 ERA in a team-high 56 appearances...led the circuit with 43 games finished... compiled a sub-3.00 ERA in every month throughout the year, including a 0.00 ERA in 12 May appearances (11.2 innings)...was named Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Month for July after posting a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings with 7 saves and 15 strikeouts...appeared in three playoff games and recorded 1 save.

2002

Split the 2002 season between Asheville (A) and Salem (A-Advanced) where he posted nearly identical numbers...pitched in 28 games at Asheville, going 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA and then appeared in 24 games for Salem, posting a 2-2 record with a 3.94 ERA...he was unscored upon in 39 of his 52 combined outings...recorded 5 saves, 1 with the Tourists and 4 with the Avalanche.

2001

Signed with the Rockies on July 23 and reported to Casper of the Pioneer League for rookie ball...he made 17 appearances with Casper and was 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA and 1 save...held opponents to a .196 average against...earned his first pro save on Aug. 21 vs. Idaho Falls.

2001

Posted 3.16 ERA, fanned 8.4 batters per 9.0 innings and notched a sub-.200 batting average against with Casper of the Rookie-level Pioneer League in professional debut...secured first pro save on August 21 vs. Idaho Falls.