Gabe James Speier resides in Santa Barbara, Calif. with his wife, Megan...graduated from Dos Pueblos High School (CA) in 2013...enjoys surfing during the offseason...is nephew of former All-Star Chris Speier and cousin of Justin Speier, who had a 12-year MLB career...Made his Major League debut with the Royals on Sept. 5, 2019, vs. Detroit, tossing a scoreless inning of relief...originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 19th round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft...has been traded three times, spending time in the Red Sox (2013-14), Tigers (2015), Braves (2015), Diamondbacks (2016-18), Royals (2018-22) and Mariners (2022-c) organizations.
2023
Went 2-2 with 3.79 (23 ER, 54.2 IP) allowing 11 walks and 64 strikeouts in 69 games...Did not allow a run in his first 15 games (April 1- May 5), the second-longest streak to start a season in Mariners History (longest: Marc Rzepcynski, 16 games, 2017)...Earned first career win on May 2 at Oakland...Earned first career save, tossing 1.0 IP with two strikeouts on Aug. 20 at Houston...His 69 appearances this season are the most in his career... previously 17 appearances in 2022 with Kansas City...Recorded three outs on just two pitches on April 14 vs. Colorado...third Mariners pitcher since 1988 to do that (Jeff Nelson, July 13, 1995; J.J. Putz, July 4, 2007).
2022
Pitched in 17 games for the Royals, posting a 2.33 ERA (5 ER in 19.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts...Began the season with 11.1 scoreless innings scattering 3 hits with 8 strikeouts and no walks over eight appearances (1 start)...following his start May 11, surrendered five runs on 13 hits (2 home runs) and five walks with six strikeouts in nine relief appearances to end the season...On the Injured List from May 30-June 17, including rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas...Made his first career start on May 11 in Texas and gave the Royals 2.0 scoreless innings without allowing a hit, while registering one strikeout...all 31 of his previous Big League appearances came in relief…prior to that start May 11, he last started a game July 2, 2017 with Double-A Jackson when he was in the Diamondbacks organization...Did not issue a walk from the beginning of the 2021 season through play May 19, 2022, a span in which he posted a 2.14 ERA (5 ER in 21.0 IP) with 14 strikeouts and one hit batter...snapped his streak May 21, 2022 vs. Minnesota, when he walked Luis Arraez to begin the eighth inning.
2021
Speier spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Omaha before having his contract selected on Sept. 15... appeared in seven games from Sept. 15-the end of the season with the Royals, allowing just one earned run over 7.2 innings while striking out five and not issuing a walk...Was the only pitcher in MLB to pitch in at least seven games without issuing a walk, and the first Royal to record such a season since 1998 (Bart Evans, 8 games, 9.0 IP)...Anthony Swarzak did not allow a walk in seven games as a Royal, but did in six games with Arizona...Inherited nine runners, including at least one runner in four of seven of his appearances...he and Angels pitcher Jake Petricka became the first two pitchers to appear in seven-or-less games while inheriting nine-plus runners in a single season since Phil Coke and Chris Narveson in 2016, and he became the first Royal to do so since Nate Field (7 games, 9 inherited runners) in 2005...Picked off MLB stolen base champion Starling Marte on Sept. 16 as he attempted to swipe second base, marking his first career pickoff...Ranked second on the Storm Chasers and tied for seventh in Triple-A East with 45 appearances...went 3-0 with a 2.98 ERA (15 ER in 45.1 IP), 57 strikeouts and just nine walks in Triple-A...also notched five saves...Was the only pitcher in Minor League Baseball to appear in at least 45 games and walk less than 10 batters...Limited left-handed hitters to a .207 average and .508 OPS with Omaha, allowing three total extra-base hits to lefties in 97 plate appearances.
2020
Made the Opening Day roster for the first time and pitched in eight of the club’s first 25 games before being optioned postgame on Aug. 19…spent the remainder of the season at the Royals’ Alternate Training Site in Kansas City, Kansas...Allowed a run in four of his eight outings, but his only outings of at least 1.0 inning were scoreless, on July 27 at Detroit and Aug. 2 vs. the White Sox...Suffered his first career loss in Game 1 of the Aug. 15 doubleheader in Minnesota, as his inherited runner scored the go-ahead run after he exited...Right-handed batters hit .529 (9-for-17), but he held left handers hitless in nine at-bats, extending his hitless streak vs. left handers to 15 at-bats dating back to a double by Matt Olson on Sept. 16, 2019 at Oakland… he’s retired 15 of 19 lefties faced since then, allowing four walks...Designated for assignment on Nov. 20, before being sent outright to Omaha (AAA).
2019
Made his big league debut on Sept. 5 vs. Detroit and appeared in nine games with the Royals…pitched to a 7.36 ERA (6 ER in 7.1 IP) with 10 strikeouts (12.27 K/9), holding the opposition to a .185 average (5-for-27) ... His first four appearances were scoreless, before surrendering three runs in the eighth inning on Sept. 14 vs. Houston…recorded all three outs via strikeout in the frame ... Held right-handed batters to a .133 average (2-for-15), while lefties were 3-for-12 (.250) against him…also held the opposition to a .167 average (2-for-12) in his three home appearances ... Opened the year at Northwest Arkansas (AA), before being promoted to Omaha (AAA) on May 30…combined to go 1-5 with a 4.48 ERA (31 ER in 62.1 IP) with 73 strikeouts (10.54 K/9) in 47 minor league appearances ... With Omaha, held left-handed batters to a .161 average (9- for-56), while he fanned 16 of them.
2018
Acquired by Kansas City with RHP Elvis Luciano from Arizona for OF Jon Jay on June 6 ... Allowed just three home runs in 61.0 innings with Jackson (AA) and Northwest Arkansas (AA), good for a 0.4 HR/9.
2017
Recorded a career-high 69.0 innings with just four home runs allowed (0.5 HR/9) in 36 appearances with Jackson (AA).
2016
Made 10 appearances for Salt River in the Arizona Fall League, after posting a 2.62 ERA (17 ER in 58.1 IP) over 39 appearances across four levels during the regular season ... Did not allow a home run over the first 99.1 innings (59 appearances) of his career across three-plus seasons, including 4.0 innings in 2013, 29.0 innings in 2014, 44.0 innings in 2015 and 22.1 innings to begin 2016.
