Gabe Speier joins a growing list of M's players who will participate.
Seattle Mariners left-handed reliever Gabe Speier was named to Team USA's roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic on Wednesday morning. He joins Cal Raleigh as M's players who will represent the Red, White and Blue.
About Speier
Now 30 years old, Speier is a seven-year veteran of the Kansas City Royals and Mariners. In 215 career games, Speier is 6-9 with a 3.64 ERA, though he turned in a dynamic season for the M's in 2025. As the Mariners advanced to the American League Championship Series, Speier went 4-3 with a 2.61 ERA in a whopping 76 games. He struck out 82 batters in 62.0 innings.
For his career, he's held lefties to a .188 batting average and he figures to be a weapon against lefties for Team USA skipper Mark DeRosa.
Why this is a great thing
1) Any time you are asked to represent your country, there's a great honor that comes with that.
2) This shows the perseverance and dedication of Speier in his career. He dealt with an injury-plagued 2024 season, pitching in just 29 games and compiling a 5.70 ERA. To go from that season to his year in 2025 is a great test of resolve.
In fact, Speier wasn't even sure he was going to be in the M's organization in 2025, and he told the media that during the MLB playoffs.
I thought there was an...nobody really talked to me. I mean, at the end of the year, just the way the year went, I thought that could have happened. And I talked with Jerry (Dipoto) at the end of last year, and I said, 'I want to be back here.' And he told me that 'you're gonna be'. So, um, that was a big, kind of, weight lifted off the shoulders because I really didn't know. But then, yeah, Jerry kind of told me, 'we want you back here'. So that was...that was really nice to hear.
Why this is worrisome
Let's just think aloud here:
Speier pitched in 76 regular season games, which is an extraordinary amount. Then, he threw in seven more high-leverage playoff games. The Mariners played deep into October, shrinking Speier's offseason as it is, and now he has to turn around and ramp it up earlier in March for the WBC. That's a lot to ask.
And by the way, he's not the only Mariners reliever who will be asked to do it. Matt Brash has already committed to Team Canada and Andres Munoz (Mexico) and Eduard Bazardo (Venezuela) are also expected to participate.
That's each of the M's top four relievers.
About the WBC
The tournament begins on March 5 and runs through March 17. Japan is the reigning champion while the Americans won in 2017.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!