On this episode, Flying Squirrels broadcaster Trey Wilson talks with pitcher Spencer Bivens, who tells stories about his unique journey through the baseball ranks. Born in Virginia Beach, Bivens grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, before heading off to play junior college baseball in North Carolina.
Bivens worked his way to Division II Rogers State in Oklahoma, before landing a spot on a Lions de Savigny in France. He was slated to play for Kotlářka Praha in the Czech Baseball Extraliga before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and he ended up playing for the Lemont Ducks of the Centre County League, an amateur baseball organization in Central Pennsylvania.
He got picked up to play in a four-team pod league hosted by the independent Washington Wild Things later in the 2020 summer before signing to play for the Wild Things in 2021. After he was released, Bivens signed with the West Virginia Power of the Atlantic League before being traded to the Gastonia Honey Hunters in North Carolina.
Bivens returned to Gastonia to begin the 2022 season and caught the eye of the San Francisco Giants, who signed him to join the affiliated ranks for the first time at age 27. Last year, Bivens pitcher for the Low-A San Jose Giants and the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats before getting some time in the prestigious Arizona Fall League, where he landed a spot on the Fall Stars team.
After beginning the 2023 season with the High-A Eugene Emeralds, he was promoted to Double-A Richmond in early May. Bivens talks with Wilson to discuss all the details that surrounded his path to get him to this point in his baseball journey.
