American baseball player
Mark D. Payton (born December 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Amateur career
Payton was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB Project outside S. Rita da Cascia Scientific High School in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He did not sign with the twins and went on to play college baseball at the University of Texas at Austin for the Longhorns.[2][3] While in Texas, he had a Big-12 record of 101 straight games coming to base.[4][5] After his junior season he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 16th round of the 2013 MLB Draft, but did not sign and returned to Texas for his senior season.[6] In 2013 he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Cotuit Kettles.[7] Payton played 234 games during his four-year college career, hitting .318 / .425 / .444 with seven home runs.
Professional career
New York Yankees
Payton was then drafted by the New York Yankees in the seventh round of the 2014 MLB Draft.[8] He signed and spent 2014 with both Charleston RiverDogs[9] and Tampa Yankees, cutting .320 / .418 / .497 with four home runs out of 48 total games.
In 2015 he played for both Tampa and Trenton Thunder, beating a combined .267 / .346 / .368 with six home runs and 52 RBI.
In 2016 he played for Tampa, Trenton and the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, beating a combined .282 / .358 / .423 with ten home runs and 62 RBI.
In 2017, he played for Trenton and Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, beating .256 / .313 / .389 with six home runs and 23 RBI in 94 total games.[10]
Oakland Athletics
During the 2018 Winter Rally, Oakland Athletics selected Payton from the Yankees in the minor league stage of Rule 5.[11]
In 2019, Payton played for AAA Aviators in Las Vegas, beating .334 / .400 / .653 with 80 runs, 30 home runs and 97 RBI (8th in the Pacific Coast League) in 395 at bats.[12][13] He was PCL Player of the Week on July 14th.[14]
At the end of the season, on 10 October 2019, he was selected for the United States National Baseball Team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.[15]
Cincinnati Reds
On December 12, 2019, Payton was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the draft Article 5 of 2019.[16] On 21 July 2020, Payton was returned by the Reds to track and field. On August 7, 2020, Payton was returned to Cincinnati in exchange for cash considerations.
On August 22, Payton was selected for the major league roster. [17] He made his major league debut that day against the St. Louis Cardinals.
