Seattle Mariners Left-Handed Reliever Gabe Speier on Historic Pace
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The Seattle Mariners bullpen began the season not at full strength and became progressively more taxed during the season-opening seven-game homestead.
The Mariners are still awaiting the returns of right-handed high-leverage relievers Troy Taylor and Matt Brash, who were both placed on the 15-day injured list to start the year. Four pitchers (Tayler Saucedo, Collin Snider, Gregory Santos, Carlos Vargas) all went 1.1 innings or more in a 9-6 loss against the Detroit Tigers on Monday.
Among all the chaos of Opening Week, one Seattle reliever has been putting up historic numbers.
Gabe Speier began his third season with the Mariners this year. In his first year with the team in 2023, Speier posted a stellar 3.79 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched across 69 appearances. In 2024, Speier began the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers and was placed on the 15-day injured list June 1 with a left rotator cuff strain. He posted a 5.70 ERA in 29 appearances with 33 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched.
Gabe Speier, Ridiculous Back Foot Slider. 😯 pic.twitter.com/e7HQOAwvwH
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 31, 2024
In the infantile stages of the season, Speier has shown that 2024 was an aberration. Through three appearances entering Friday, Speier has a 0.00 ERA in 2.2 innings pitched and has struck out four batters. According to pregame notes shared by Mariners PR, Speier's first three outings has helped place him in an exclusive category in MLB history.
Speier has a 0.30 ERA in 31 outings and 30 innings pitched in March and April. That's the lowest ERA through the first month of the season among pitchers with a minimum of 30 innings pitched since ERA became an official stat in 1913. That mark trails only Adam Kolerek's mark in August (0.28 ERA) for the lowest in MLB history for any pitcher in a calendar month.
Speier has been an effective back-end starter in Brash and Taylor's absence. And at his current pace, he'll likely be depended on more as the season progresses.
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