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. 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.
