Cory Spangenberg and the rest of Nippon Professional Baseball return to action Friday after a break of four weeks to accommodate the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Spangenberg, a 2009 Abington Heights graduate, is in his second season playing in Japan where the last league action was July 15, followed by All-Star Game activities the next two days.
The Saitama Seibu Lions, with Spangenberg playing in 55 games and moving to various positions, are 33-38-14 for fifth place out of six teams in the Pacific League, 6½ games out of first place.
Spangenberg has a .230 batting average, .344 on-base percentage and .394 slugging percentage this season. He has 6 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs, 27 runs scored and 22 RBI while going 3-for-6 on stolen-base attempts.
In his first season in Japan in 2020, Spangenberg led the Pacific League in triples with eight. He batted .268 with 15 home runs, 57 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 111 games. He was third in the league with 26 doubles, while ranking fifth in stolen bases and tied for ninth in home runs.
Prior to Japan, Spangenberg spent six seasons in the Major Leagues.
Spangenberg, the 10th overall pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft worked his way up by batting .301 in 534 career Minor League games.
In a 419-game Major League career, Spangenberg played every position except catcher and first base. He batted .256 with 29 home runs and 34 stolen bases. He pitched twice.
Spangenberg played his first five seasons with the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted him. His final season – and only postseason appearance – came with Milwaukee in 2019 where he played 32 late-season games and was part of the Brewers push to rally into a playoff spot.
