Thomas Andrew Nance (born March 19, 1991) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for 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 ...

Early life and amateur career

Nance attended Woodrow Wilson High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. In high school he had a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his lower back. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

Cypress College Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associat ...

, and Santa Clara. He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

after his senior year of college.

Professional career

Windy City Thunderbolts

In 2015, Nance went undrafted out of

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, and signed with the

Windy City Thunderbolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood, Illinois, in the United States. The ThunderBolts are a member of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseball. Sinc ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. In 29 games, Nance registered a 4.74 ERA and 1–1 record with 40 strikeouts in 38 innings and a 1.421 WHIP.

Chicago Cubs

On January 18, 2016, Nance had his contract purchased by the

organization. He split the 2016 season between four Cubs affiliates, the Low-A

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, the Single-A

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was or ...

, the High-A

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

, and the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

. He accumulated a 4–1 record and 2.58 ERA in 22 games between the four teams. He did not play in a game in 2017 due to injury, after being diagnosed with

nerve injury Nerve injury is an injury to nervous tissue. There is no single classification system that can describe all the many variations of nerve injuries. In 1941, Seddon introduced a classification of nerve injuries based on three main types of nerve f ...

in his shoulder. He spent the 2018 season in Double-A with the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off Int ...

, where he recorded a 3.48 ERA in 15 appearances. He split 2019 between Tennessee and Myrtle Beach, pitching to a 2–5 record and 4.07 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 48.2 innings of work. Nance did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He was assigned to Triple-A Iowa to begin the 2021 season. On May 9, Nance pitched the fourth through sixth innings of a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

at Principal Park in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. Preceded on the mound by

Shelby Miller Shelby Charles Miller (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondb ...

, he struck out five batters over three innings before being relieved by

Brad Wieck Bradley Michael Wieck (; born October 14, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization. He previously played for the San Diego Padres and Cubs. Career New York Mets Wieck attended San Jacinto Christian Acade ...

and

Ryan Meisinger Ryan Thomas Meisinger (born May 4, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs. Amateur career Meisinger a ...

who completed the combined no-hit game. On May 16, after recording a 1.50 ERA in 3 games with Iowa, Nance was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Nance made his MLB debut on May 17, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. In the game, he recorded his first Major League strikeout, punching out the first batter he faced,

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

infielder

Josh Harrison Joshua Isaiah Harrison (born July 8, 1987) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics and C ...

. On June 11, Nance earned his first MLB victory against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

. On October 2, Nance was placed on the COVID-19 injured list. In 2021 for the Cubs the 30-year-old was 1-1 with a 7.22 ERA. In 27 games his pitched 28.2 innings, in which he gave up 23 earned runs. On March 25, 2022, Nance was designated for assignment.

Miami Marlins

On March 27, 2022, the

claimed Nance off waivers. He made 35 appearances for the Marlins in 2022, posting a 2-3 record and 4.33 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched. In 2023, Nance suffered a right shoulder strain in February that caused him to begin the regular season on the injured list. He was placed on the 60-day injured list on April 22 amid his recovery. On August 23, Nance was activated from the injured list.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nance, Tommy 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Long Beach, California Chicago Cubs players Cypress Chargers baseball players Eugene Emeralds players Florida Complex League Marlins players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players Jupiter Hammerheads players Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Pensacola Blue Wahoos players Santa Clara Broncos baseball players South Bend Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Windy City ThunderBolts players