Justin Speier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — No. 33 | |
| Relief Pitcher | |
| Born: November 6, 1973 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 27, 1998 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through May 30, 2008) |
|
| Win-Loss | 29-26 |
| ERA | 3.96 |
| Strikeouts | 507 |
| Teams | |
Justin James Speier (born November 6, 1973 in Walnut Creek, California) is a right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels. He attended Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona. Upon graduation from Brophy Prep, Justin attended the University of San Francisco where he played catcher for the Dons. Justin also served in the US Marine Corps Reserves. He also attended Nicholls State University. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs in 1995. He is the son of former Major League player and coach Chris Speier.
Speier throws a four-seam fastball from an unusual angle that can reach anywhere between 89 and 94 miles per hour. His success tends to be directly proportional to his fastball velocity, because the fastball sets up his best strikeout pitch - a baffling, darting forkball, which causes great difficulty for hitters because of his unorthodox arm slot. Speier also throws a two-seamer and a slider.
Although Speier is of great value to almost any bullpen in baseball he has bounced around quite a bit in his MLB career. After being chosen in the 55th round by the Cubs in the 1995 draft it took Justin until 1998 to make it to the big leagues.
He played one game for the Cubs before he was dealt with two other teammates to the Florida Marlins. He pitched 18 games in Florida and by the time next season started he was coming out of the bullpen for the Atlanta Braves. On November 23, 1999 Speier was claimed off of waivers by the Cleveland Indians.
While with the Indians in 2000, Justin went 5-2 during the regular season which was the first time he ever won a game in the major leagues. He started the 2001 season back with Cleveland winning his first two decisions of the season before leaving to go the Colorado Rockies where he played the next two in a half seasons of his career. His overall win-loss record with Colorado was 12-5 while picking up his first 10 big league saves.
He was then traded to Toronto on December 14, 2003 in a trade involving three teams. During his first season with the Blue Jays he finished the season with a disappointing 3-8 record while adding 7 more saves to his career total. In 2005 he rebounded by losing just twice and picking three wins over the course of the season. His ERA (Earned Run Average) also went down from 3.91 in his first year with Toronto to 2.57 and he also appeared in 65 games which was three more appearances than he had in 2004.
During the 2006 season Speier complied a 2-0 record, with a respectable 2.98 ERA and 25 holds.
Speier become a free agent after the 2006 season, and on November 19, 2006, Speier signed a four year contract worth $18 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
