Spiers was one of three players, along with Will Banfield And Rodder Mñozwho the Reds dropped from the squad at the non-tender deadline last week. Spiers was technically designated for assignment a few days earlier, as Cincinnati created space to add three eligible Rule 5 prospects to the 40-man roster. They waited until the non-tender deadline to resolve the DFA, which meant they didn’t have to subject it to waivers. That’s a common tactic for teams to try to re-sign these players to minor league deals, keeping them in the organization without the need for a 40-man spot.
The 28-year-old Spiers pitched in each of the past three big league seasons. He is a depth arm who has started 14 of 29 career outings. Spiers has a 5.69 earned run average over 117 innings. His strikeout rate of 19.3% and swinging strike rate of 9.4% are both mediocre and he struggles to keep the ball in the park. Most of Spiers’ big league experience came in 2024, as shoulder and elbow injuries cost him almost all of last season.
While Spiers has yet to find much success in the MLB, he has a decent ERA of 4.08 in nearly 400 minor league innings. He has powered nearly a quarter of opponents at a walk rate of 8.9%. Spiers sits around 92 MPH with his four-seam and sinker, while still regularly using three pitches (sweeper, cutter and changeup). He remains with the organization that initially signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and will look to work his way back onto the roster once he puts the elbow injury behind him.
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