Spencer Kreisberg

From BR Bullpen

Spencer Kreisberg

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Spencer Kreisberg has played baseball and football at the US college level. As his father is from Britain, he qualified for the British national team, which he has represented in several international tournaments.

He debuted on the roster for Britain for the 2010 European Championship but did not get into a game in that event. He allowed two runs (one earned) in seven innings in the 2011 European Championship Qualifiers, getting a win over Georgia (1 R in 6 IP) that the bullpen nearly blew with six runs allowed the rest of the way in a 8-7 win. Britain won their pool to return to the 2012 European Championship.

He signed with the Karlskoga Bats in the Swedish Elitserien (a somewhat frequent stop for British national team players) for 2012 and did very well. He was 7-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, fanning 59 in 60 1/3 IP. He also hit .300/.385/.358 as a part-time outfielder. He was second in the league in ERA (.10 behind fellow British team member Paul Waterman), 3rd in wins (behind Waterman and Richard Leander) and 5th in whiffs (between Albin Sivard and Leander).

In the 2012 Euros, he got one start but struggled against Belgium (3 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 K) before Craig Pycock relieved. He got a no-decision. He had Britain's highest ERA in the 2012 Euros, at 12.00; David Rees was next at 10.12. In his lone start in the 2013 B-Level European Championship, he dominated the Ukrainian national team (8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K) before Daniel Cooper closed out the win. Britain again won a return to the European Championship.

Kreisberg pitched for Göteborg in Sweden in 2014, going 1-2 with a 2.73 ERA and hitting .375/.515/.625. He was 5th in ERA (between Sivard and Waterman) and would have made the top 5 in OBP and slugging had he qualified. He starred for Great Britain in the 2014 European Championship at 2-0, 0.69 with 14 whiffs in 13 IP, beating both Sweden and Greece. Future major leaguer Jake Esch had the only other win for the 3-4 British squad. Kreisberg was 8th in those Euros in ERA (between Pete Sikaras and Nikita Lobanov), tied Esch and Leslie Nacar for 6th in innings pitched, tied Nacar for 6th in strikeouts and tied for first in wins (with Frailyn Florian, Diegomar Markwell, Arshwin Asjes, Mike Bolsenbroek, Jan-Niclas Stoecklin and Eric Gonzalez).

He was 5-1 with a 1.48 ERA for the Southampton Mustangs in Britain in 2016, not losing until the national championship against the London Mets, a 1-0 defeat. He led the league in ERA and tied for second in wins. In the 2016 European Championship, he was 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA and hit .333/.385/.333 as a part-time right fielder; he took the defeat against the powerhouse Dutch national team. He then got the nod in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers against Israel in the finals, in a mismatch with long-time major leaguer Jason Marquis. Facing a lineup with four former big leaguers, he tossed four shutout innings, allowing one hit and three walks to match Marquis. In the 5th, he allowed a leadoff single to Scotty Burcham and was relieved by Ali Knowles, who served up a homer; Israel kept up from there for a 9-1 win, handing Kreisberg the loss despite arguably being Britain's top hurler of six they used that day (Paul Kirkpatrick had a 0.00 ERA in 2/3 IP).

He later was a physical education teacher at Hermosa Beach Middle School.

Sources[edit]

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