AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS MARINERS

October 7, 2025

Gabe Speier

Comerica Park

Seattle Mariners

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Gabe, you said in Houston that that at-bat against Walker was the biggest of your career. How did maybe that experience prepare you for what you've had the last two games?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. You know, that last couple weeks of the season was really important for us, and lots of high-leverage moments, and obviously this series -- these are the biggest outs I've gotten in my career.

So yeah. It's a -- those last couple weeks leading up to the postseason definitely prepared for this, yeah.

Q. Gabe, just the idea that the other night in Game 2, when this team needed the hit, they got it. And all season long we've heard you guys say you've had each other's backs. How was the mindset since that game, and how do you feel heading into this, especially what we saw Sunday night?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. Definitely a big moment that hit, and yeah, I think it's just gave us momentum coming here to Detroit, and we hope to continue that momentum and keep winning ball games.

Q. I heard you say in the last day or two, you were asked about going against lefties, and you talked about I do my Plan A. You throw your best stuff, and that that's been the plan. I just wonder your conviction. Has the conviction always been there to, hey, I'm going to throw my best stuff, and that's what I'm going to ride, or is that something that you've bought into more in the last year or two or whatever?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. When I'm convicted in my stuff, that's when I'm throwing my best stuff.

And yeah. I think, you know, there's been ups and downs with that. Thinking back on last year, being injured, I don't think I was throwing with the same conviction. You know, my stuff wasn't quite where it should have been. So the conviction was probably not there as much as it should have been.

But yeah, I'd say this year -- you know, the confidence of just -- after what had happened last year, just the Mariners bringing me back, honestly, gave me a lot of confidence. I didn't know if I was going to be back, to be honest, and them believing in me, you know, is easy to kind of believe in myself after that.

And, yeah, this year I've been convicted in my stuff, and I'm obviously going to focus on that and keep being convicted.

Q. Do you really think they were going to nontender you or DFA you?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. Nobody really talked to me. At the end of the year, just the way the year went, yeah, I thought that could have happened.

And I talked with Jerry at the end of last year, and I said, "I want to be back here," and he told me that "You're going to be."

So that was a big kind of weight lifted off the shoulders because I really didn't know. But then, yeah, Jerry kind of told me, "We want you here." So that was really nice to hear.

Q. We talked with Pete about your Spring Training meeting and how you went in and said, "This is who I'm going to be this year." Were you planning on saying that? He said it quite colorfully, how you said it, but when you went in, do you remember that conversation about this is who I want to be?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. I think the success I had in '23, I knew what that felt like, I guess. And then, you know, having the down year in '24 -- yeah. I think the confidence I had in '23 -- I just wanted to get back to that.

So yeah. I kind of just told him, you know, "This is what I'm going to do." And I've been able to do it.

Q. Gabe, with this being your first postseason, what have you learned about the workload demands, knowing that your name could be called on at any given night? And how much did the HP staff prepare you guys to reach October?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. You know, it's been a heavy workload all season long. You know, I think I was, like, second in the AL in appearances or something like that. So yeah. It's been a heavy workload.

And yeah. The training staff has been a huge help. Lots of pills too, but the training staff has had my back all year, really helped me out.

Q. Gabe, you mentioned the confidence going into Spring Training. At what point in the beginning of the season did you kind of realize, okay, I got back to what I wanted to be? And was it the same as you felt in 2023 or even an elevated level?

GABE SPEIER: I'd say I felt it even before the season had started. Really my first outing in Spring Training, I saw the velo kind of tick back up. So that was really nice to see.

And, you know, I knew that my A-plus stuff was coming out of my hand, and the confidence just kind of followed with it.

What was the second part of your question? I'm sorry.

Q. How it compares to how you were feeling in '23. Is it the same feeling or any differences?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. I'd say physically the same. Mentally and -- mentally a little bit better, you know? More confidence. Yeah.

Q. Gabe, I'm sure this ties back to the conviction you were talking about before, but your success against right-handers in particular, was there a coaching conversation or a certain at-bat that clicked for you where that kind of locked in? Or what do you attribute that to, basically?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. We talked about Plan A earlier. I kind of always had a Plan A against lefties, and I didn't really have that against righties. I was just trying to maybe be a little too fine with righties.

And just -- it was just a mental shift, really, just attacking righties with the same confidence that I do with lefties.

Q. Gabe, you spent parts of basically a decade in the Minor Leagues before getting up and having a real mainstay role, everyday role in a Major League Baseball bullpen, and then you took off, obviously, with the Mariners a couple of years ago. Was there a point earlier in your career where if you were to say to yourself one day you would be a major factor in a postseason series -- like, did you believe in that, that that could happen for you, or was that something that maybe five years ago, you didn't think that could be a possibility?

GABE SPEIER: You know, I've always had confidence in myself. I always knew that when I was healthy and right, that I could be, you know, a big factor in a bullpen.

But yeah. There were definitely times, you know, thinking back to specifically 2022 I got sent down and I had a 14 ERA in Triple-A. And there were definitely those thoughts creeping in of this could be it. I might never pitch in the big leagues again.

So I guess it kind of goes both ways. I definitely have had thoughts of this might be it, and I've also had thoughts of I know I can do this and I know I can do it at a high level.

Q. Gabe, everyone in the bullpen has talked about how good it could be as far back as Spring Training, and we've really seen over the last month and these past couple games how good you guys have been, especially in high-leverage situations. Just how have you kind of noticed everyone in the bullpen kind of gelled together and really kind of just feed into each other over this last month of the season and these past couple postseason games?

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. You know, it's been great. I mean, there's -- this group, the bullpen -- we've been together for a while now. You know, with some additions, with, you know, Ferguson and Luke Jackson and some others. And those guys just fit right in.

You know, those guys are veteran guys that have been around and honestly maybe even made us a tighter group with their experience and stuff like that.

So I think we're just really comfortable around each other and we feed off each other and we know we have each other's backs. If one guy comes in and can't get the job done, we know the next guy is going to come in and pick us up, get our back, and get the job done.

Q. What makes Munoz so dominant at the end of games? And also about Bazardo? What makes Bazardo so effective?

GABE SPEIER: I think they're just not scared. Obviously the stuff coming out of their hand is elite, so that helps. But they're just not scared.

Yeah. When I watch Munoz pitch, he's just an assassin out there. He's not scared.

I think also it's not just the stuff, but I think there's some weird -- I've never seen anybody throw like him, so he's got a lot of things going for him. And I think the biggest thing, though, is his mentality.

Q. Gabe, about Bazardo, you saw him when he first came in, and they talked about it took him a while to understand the whole concept of attacking and everything like that. How have you seen him grow? You did that as well. You had to learn what they were really trying to preach.

GABE SPEIER: Yeah. You hear these things, attack the zone. And it's easier said than done, but Bazardo has really leaned into it. You can tell out there. No situation is too big for him. It doesn't seem like any moment gets the best of him. He's just kind of this even-keeled guy that it doesn't matter the situation. He's going to be the same guy and go in and attack.

And I think, you know, having guys like Munoz and Brash and myself, you know, somebody who throws a lot of strikes and isn't scared of anybody has probably helped. You know, like I said, we really lean on each other and bounce ideas off each other, and it's a tight-knit group. So I think he's learned a lot from the group, and like you said, he's grown a lot.