Spencer Kieboom

Spencer John Kieboom ( ; born March 16, 1991) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals.

Career Amateur career After graduating from George Walton Comprehensive High School, Kieboom played college baseball at Clemson University. In 2011, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Draft and minor leagues The Washington Nationals selected Kieboom in the fifth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He played for the Auburn Doubledays in the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League in 2012, batting .258 with 20 runs batted in (RBIs) in 41 games. He suffered an injury that required him to undergo ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, popularly known as Tommy John surgery in 2013, forcing him to scrap plans to play for the Netherlands in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and to miss virtually the entire 2013 season, although he did play in four games with the Gulf Coast League Nationals The Nationals then won all three of their playoff games, defeating the GCL Pirates in a single-game semifinal playoff and sweeping the GCL Red Sox in the best-of-three league championship series, to become the 2013 GCL champions.

Kieboom played for the Hagerstown Suns in the Class A South Atlantic League in 2014, appearing in 87 games and hitting .309, with 61 RBIs and nine home runs, the first home runs of his professional career. He spent 2015 with the Potomac Nationals in the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, where he played in 71 games and hit .248 with two home runs and 21 RBIs.

Kieboom was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the Double-A Eastern League for the 2016 season, hitting .230 in 94 games with five home runs and 31 RBIs. the Nationals promoted him to the major leagues for the first time on September 27, 2016, after an injury to starting catcher Wilson Ramos. Kieboom was on the Nationals′ roster for six days, and he had one plate appearance, drawing a walk and scoring a run in the team's regular season finale on October 2, thus ending his first stint in the majors with 1.000 on-base percentage. then outrighted him to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A International League on March 6 Despite not appearing in a regular-season professional game at any position other than catcher, Kieboom took the field more than once during 2018 spring training as a first baseman. He began the season with Syracuse and appeared in 25 games with the Chiefs, batting .250, hitting a home run, and driving in 10 runs while appearing as both a catcher and occasional first baseman During the first game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on May 19, Kieboom had his first career major-league start, and in the third inning he notched his first major-league hit, singling off of Dodgers starter Ross Stripling. On September 11, 2018, Kieboom hit his first career home run while facing Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta.

Kieboom spent the 2019 season with Harrisburg, hitting .196/.271/.256/.527 with 1 home run and 14 RBI. On October 21, 2019, the Nationals outrighted Kieboom off their 40-man roster. He elected free agency on October 24 and later decided to retire.

Personal life Kieboom was born in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and holds dual nationality with the United States and the Netherlands. His Dutch-born father, Alswinn Kieboom, and for Eastern Illinois University.