When I first heard that the Mariners were honoring the best left-handed pitcher in baseball history, naturally I assumed they were unveiling some sort of Gabe Speier promotion. Turns out they are retiring Randy Johnson’s number. But you can understand my confusion: This year, Speier has a lower ERA and a higher strikeout rate than Johnson ever did with Seattle.
I open with this psuedo-joke not to detract from Johnson, whose legacy the Mariners are long overdue in acknowledging, but to illustrate just how dominant Gabe Speier has been this year. It’s a welcome bounceback that was on full display in Speier’s most recent outing, when he struck out four of the six Minnesota Twins he faced, punctuated by this pie in the face to Carlos Correa.