Rangers’ Alex Speas strikes out three in MLB debut after return from mental health break
After Alex Speas threw his last warm-up pitch, he couldn’t help but smile.
He was making his MLB debut in Texas’ 5-1 win vs the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, but his path to the big leagues wasn’t usual — even for baseball standards.
The Rangers drafted Speas with the 63rd pick in the 2016 MLB draft from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. In 2021, he reached AA, but was sent down to rookie ball with an 11.25 ERA. After the season, Speas stepped away from pitching for a mental health break.
Speas spent 2022 coaching Little league baseball, which he said reignited his passion for baseball. He rejoined the Rangers in 2023, and after 28 games across AA and AAA, Texas called up Speas on Wednesday.
Manager Bruce Bochy said before the game he wanted to ease Speas into a game, but with starting pitcher Jon Gray leaving the game with a bruised shin after taking a line drive, Bochy was forced to use Speas in a one-run game.
In 1.2 innings, facing Tampa’s all-stars such as Wander Franco, Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena, Speas struck out three batters with his devastating sweeper and cutter.
“It’s one of those dream come trues,” Speas said postgame. “It’s something you dream about as a kid. I look back at working with those kids this past year, it’s something they all dream about. Using this as a platform for those guys to understand that anything is possible.”
Speas said he was nervous during his first two pitches, but settled in and realized that if he was good enough to make the major leagues, he was good enough to face major league hitters.
“I started calming down a little bit, and it started turning into the game it was before,” Speas said. “For a minute there, it sped up on me, but we’ve gotten back down to the point where we can just play... Honestly, I didn’t even know it was Wander Franco. I was more in the moment of being myself.”
Bochy — known for his bullpen management — said closers Will Smith and Aroldis Chapman were unavailable to pitch on Wednesday, and he did not want to use Grant Anderson or Jose Leclerc on one day’s rest.
So, with a runner on-base, only one out and with a small lead in the seventh inning, Bochy, too, was confident in Speas’ ability to manage the pressure.
“I can’t say enough about what he did,” Bochy said. “That kid really showed great poise, really handled the situation so well. I know he’s worked hard to get back here. He went out there and looked like he was in a good place, and we saw what he did. And we needed it. It was such a tight ball game, had some guys that were down today and we didn’t want to use. He came through in a big way for us.”
After his first appearance pitching for the team that drafted him seven years ago, Speas said he doesn’t just want to help the Rangers compete in the American League, but use his status as a professional athlete to share his story and show others they can overcome mental health battles.
“Fighting mental health is not the easiest thing to do,” Speas said. “There’s some long nights, there’s some long days, and it’s a hard fight to get through it all. I’m glad we made it here, and I’m thankful for the organization for having trust in me and giving me the opportunity to come back and do this.”