Liam John Spence (born 9 April 1998) is an Australian
professional baseball infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.
Standard arrangement of positions
In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
in the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
organization.
Career
Spence graduated from
St. Joseph's College in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Victoria. He then attended
Central Arizona College, where he played
college baseball for two years, before he transferred to the
University of Tennessee to play for the
Tennessee Volunteers. In 2021, he was a finalist for the
Brooks Wallace Award
The Brooks Wallace Award is an award given by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF) to the best college baseball shortstop of the year. The award has been given annually since 2004. Until 2008 the award was presented to the nation's most outstandi ...
.
The
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
selected Spence in the fifth round of the
2021 MLB draft
The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...
. He played for the
South Bend Cubs after he signed in 2021 and for the
Myrtle Beach Pelicans during the 2022 season. Spence is a member of the
Australia national baseball team in the
2023 World Baseball Classic
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
.
Personal life
Liam's two older brothers,
Josh
Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive ( hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to:
People A–J
* "Josh", an early pseudonym o ...
and Nic, played baseball for Central Arizona. Josh also played for the
San Diego Padres of
Major League Baseball.
References
External links
Living people
1998 births
Sportspeople from Geelong
Australian baseball players
Central Arizona Vaqueros baseball players
Tennessee Volunteers baseball players
South Bend Cubs players
Myrtle Beach Pelicans players
2023 World Baseball Classic players
Sportsmen from Victoria (state)
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