Recapturing the joy in baseball: Alex Speas' road to the Texas Rangers
After a brief retirement, Speas has steamrolled through the minor leagues to earn a call up to the major leagues.
In 2022, Alex Speas walked away from professional baseball.
The joy of playing the game he loves was missing, his mental health began to deteriorate and Speas decided to move on. He became a high school baseball coach at Combine Academy in North Carolina and it looked like his life would go forward having never become a major-league pitcher.
A lot happened in the next year for Speas and it all built up to the announcement that the Texas Rangers selected his contract from Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday. A year after it seemed pro-ball would remain an unfulfilled dream for Speas, he is headed to the big leagues after an improbable comeback.
“If you don't love it and if you don't love what you do at the end of the day, it's hard to do it,” Speas told JR Sports TX. “I never really fell out of love with baseball but I knew I wasn't enjoying it.”
Speas was the Rangers’ second round pick in 2016 out of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. His fastball was already hitting 100 mph when he needed to have Tommy John and knee surgery over the course of 2018.
He made just two appearances in 2019 and nearly found a way to the majors in 2020 after showing he could reach 102 mph on his fastball. Speas wasn’t selected for a spot on the roster and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spent the year at the alternate site with no minor league season.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Speas struggled with command issues and being away from his family — Speas’ daughter, Haven, was born in December of 2018.
Speas moved up to Double-A Frisco in 2021, but more elbow issues and his unhappiness with the game was “just detrimental to my mental health at the time” and seemed to push the right-hander to an early retirement.
“I’ll tell everybody that the joy to be able to play this game — if you don't have it — it's hard to play.” Speas said. “Me losing that over that 2021 going into that 2022 year just took a toll on me and it took the time for me to be honest with myself and step up and basically say ‘Hey, what do we do to figure out how to keep chasing this dream?’”
Speas stepped away — but it didn’t last all that long.
By the time February 2023 came around, Speas missed the game. His love for baseball had never gone away and with the help of friends, family and the kids he got to coach, he realized he wanted to give pitching another shot.
Speas said the Rangers welcomed him back with open arms and he took on spring training as, arguably, his toughest challenge in his return.
“Getting spring training out of the way was the biggest step,” said Speas. “Right when spring training was over, basically it was just hit the ground running.”
The 25-year-old used spring training as his springboard, getting comfortable with a dirt mound again and working with his teammates.
The speed on his pitch was certainly still there, it was just about getting back into his rhythm.
“That really did help me just get all the kinks out, get back into it, get my mojo [back],” Speas said. “And then I think honestly just getting back in Frisco and being in front of fans again, giving you that adrenaline that something to feed off of a little bit has helped a lot.”
Speas got his feet wet again with Double-A Frisco. In 23 appearances for the RoughRiders, Speas had a 0.64 ERA with 47 strikeouts to just 13 walks. His run in Frisco included 14 straight trips to the mound without allowing an earned run.
He was outright dominant with just about every appearance, winning Rangers Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month in May and June.
“It's just me being the best version of myself,” Speas said. “When I look at it, having that confidence, having that commitment to whatever pitch it is and whatever count, knowing that I have a great group of guys behind me.”
His 14th consecutive shutout trip out of the bullpen was his final with the Riders, preceding a call up to Round Rock on June 27. Speas made just five appearances for the Express before getting the call up to Arlington.
Whenever Speas makes his debut, he’ll be the third Frisco RoughRider this season to appear out of the bullpen for the major-league club. Grant Anderson has been a consistent presence in the bullpen since late May and Owen White made a spot appearance in June.
For now, Speas has already joined the clubhouse, with the Rangers in the midst of a homestand. He’s already talking about the World Series and helping his new team in their chase for postseason success.
Speas needed a reset, and thankfully for himself and the Texas Rangers, he gave baseball another go. He’ll look to make his mark enjoying every moment out on the diamond.
“Coming back and finding that joy from baseball again and being out there and competing with these guys and pushing myself to get to the next level, it hasn't been any better.”