Carson Spiers showed he took another step with a solid Reds spring debut
GOODYEAR, Ariz. –– Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Carson Spiers made it up to the big leagues last year because of his ability to mix multiple pitches and throw a lot of strikes. On Saturday, in the Reds’ spring training opener, Spiers showed some more upside.Spiers got Cleveland Guardians stars Steven Kwan and José Ramírez –– two hitters who rarely whiff –– to swing and miss. Spiers struck out four batters in two scoreless innings.
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“That was a good one,” Spiers said. “We had a good game plan going in. For me, against lefties especially, it’s about establishing the inside fastball and the inside cutter. I did that early, so it opens up my secondary stuff. Then I got some swings and misses today.”
Last year, Spiers got called up from Double-A when the Reds were in the middle of a COVID outbreak and gave the Reds some solid innings, especially considering the circumstances. He’s one of 10 starting pitchers competing for a big league rotation spot this spring. But he’s a more polished pitcher than a lot of other rotation candidates from previous seasons who battled for spots on the Reds’ roster in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Spiers said that he isn’t putting too much thought into this competition, which has several quality candidates.
“That stuff is way out of my control,” Spiers said. “What I can control is how competitive I am. That’s who I am. My job is to make it hard on those (evaluators).”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Carson Spiers showed he took another step with solid Reds spring debut
