Atlanta Braves Newcomer Review: Gabe Speier What Should We Expect

May 14, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Bruce the pitching robot throws out the first pitch as students who built the machine from Paradise Valley High School watch during the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Gabe Speier Scouting Report

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I watched the last 3 appearances of Speier’s that were available on milb.tv (not every game at the low-A level is carried on milb.tv), which were 3 of his last 7 games. Over those 3 appearances, Speier pitched 5 innings, allowing 0 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 3.

The first thing you’ll notice in watching Speier after just glancing over his Baseball Reference page is that Speier looks to have grown and definitely filled out since his height and weight were placed into the B-R database. Without the ability to have him stand next to anyone, it’s hard to judge, but he certainly doesn’t appear an even 6′ on the mound. I’d wager he’s probably a couple of inches taller, but the notable thing is that unless he’s wearing about four layers of clothes underneath his uniform each game, he’s about 200 pounds, which is a good thing for him as far as holding up over the long haul.

Speier has a very easy delivery that has a slight delay and extra lean back as he gets to the peak of his motion before he moves forward. His arm action is just a touch below 3/4, but he’s fairly consistent in that location with each pitch, to his credit. That tick of delay seems to hide the ball for just a moment from right handed hitters and throw off the timing for all hitters.

Speier does feature a four pitch mix, and even coming out of the bullpen in 2015, he featured all four pitches. He throws a four-seam fastball in the lower 90s, touching 93-94 at the top end. The four-seam has some good late movement. He also throws a two-seam fastball in the upper 80s, touching 91, with good sink, specifically arm-side sink. His curveball is very effective in the lower part of the zone. The real wild card in Speier’s future role is his changeup. He has very good arm speed to match his fastball, but his changeup has some wicked movement with it, and he frequently struggles to control it. When he has a hold on the pitch, it’s a plus pitch, and if he can find a way to make that a consistent plus pitch for him, he could move into the rotation and have a chance to become a legit prospect from the left side.

Next: 2016 outlook

Speier does seem to fall in love with the top of the zone, and his stuff simply does not have the velocity to play well in the upper parts of the zone. He needs to keep the ball low to be effective with his combination of pitches.