Former Tiger Dominates in Return from Injury
By: Robert MacRae July 30, 2024

A former Clemson standout was sharp in his return to the mound for his Major League Baseball team on Monday.

Cincinnati Reds righthander Carson Spiers fired five shutout innings en route to his fourth win of the season in the Reds’ 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Spiers (4-2) yielded just one hit and two walks in the scoreless outing while striking out four.

This marked Spiers’ first start since July 12 due to a right shoulder injury. He was activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of Monday’s start.

Spiers said he was pleased with “the results for sure” in his first start back from the IL.

“Some kinks and things to work through, but just kind of how baseball is,” Spiers said. “You take two weeks off, you’ve gotta brush through those kind of rusty things.”

After allowing a one-out walk and two-out single in the first inning against the Cubs, Spiers gave up only one walk over the next four innings in his 68-pitch appearance and retired the final 12 batters he faced. 

“His first time back, we were looking at 50 to 60 pitches, maybe,” Reds manager David Bell said, via ESPN. “He went above and beyond that. It’s good to know Carson’s healthy.”

A 26-year-old rookie, Spiers owns a 3.46 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 45 strikeouts in 52 innings this season. 

Spiers has pitched in 11 games this season, making six starts, and he is scheduled to start two more games next week beginning with a home matchup against the San Francisco Giants. 

Spiers made his Major League debut last season, when he appeared in four games (two starts) for the Reds and logged 13 innings pitched. He threw three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit en route to recording his first big-league save on Sept. 29, 2023, against the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis.

Spiers signed a free agent contract with the Reds back in June 2020 following his Clemson career (2017-20), when he had a 7-7 record, 19 saves and a 2.47 ERA while allowing 70 hits (.180 opponents’ batting average) and 38 walks with 103 strikeouts in 109.1 innings pitched over 71 relief appearances.

–Photo courtesy Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK