Ryan Andrew Speier (born July 24, 1979) is an American former right-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

for his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career, from when he was called up to July 24, when he was designated for assignment.

Early life

High school

Speier was a standout pitcher at West Springfield High School in Springfield, Virginia along with Joe Saunders and Borchers Ina Vineyard.

College

Speier attended

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...

in Virginia, where he was a standout pitcher for the Highlanders baseball team. In 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the Bourne Braves of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

(CCBL). Speier set a league record with 16 saves, and allowed only 10 hits, one walk, and one earned run in his 20 innings of relief. He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2013. Speier was signed by the Rockies in 2001 as an undrafted free agent.

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

Speier won the Minor League Rolaids Relief Award in 2004 and set the single season saves record for the Texas League (AA) with 37. He was drafted and remained in the

organization until the 2010 season. Speier sports a 3.22 ERA and 1.212 WHIP away from Coors Field and is praised for his ability to keep the ball in the ball park by only allowing four home runs in 99 innings. He is also a significantly more productive second half pitcher with a 2.38 ERA and 1.28 WHIP during his career with the Colorado Rockies.

Washington Nationals

On December 11, 2009, Speier signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

He played at Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of Atlantic League in 2010.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On February 16, 2011, Speier signed with Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). On April 12, 2011, Speier made his NPB debut. On November 29, 2011, he became free agent.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speier, Ryan 1979 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Kentucky Bourne Braves players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers People from Frankfort, Kentucky Radford Highlanders baseball players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Tulsa Drillers players Casper Rockies players Grand Canyon Rafters players Mesa Solar Sox players Modesto Nuts players Salem Avalanche players Visalia Oaks players