St. Rita graduate looks to find new home in outfield for Cincinnati Reds
St. Rita graduate hopes to earn spot in crowded outfield with Cincinnati
Mark Payton has never had a better opportunity to fulfill his dream of making it to the major leagues than he will this spring training.
It’s right there in front of him. Like a hanging curveball.
Payton is on the 40-man roster for the Cincinnati Reds and will be in the big league camp on Feb. 17 when spring training opens in Goodyear, Arizona.
Goodyear? Not necessarily. Payton just needs a really good spring training to break camp with the Reds.
“Justwaiting for a chance to get some big league at-bats,” Payton said. “Show what I can do and hopefully stick with Cincinnati.”
The 5-foot-8, 190-pound outfielder has a lot to offer. A left-handed batter, he can hit for average and power, play all three outfield positions and run the bases efficiently.
Payton also possesses a genius-like baseball IQ.
“I can do a lot of things to help a major league team win,” he said.
Payton hopes that team is the Reds, who took him in December’s Rule 5 draft from Oakland. He must stay on Cincinnati’s major league roster for the entire 2020 season or be offered back to the A’s after clearing waivers.
Payton is coming off the best season of his life. He hit .334 with 30 doubles, 30 homers and 97 RBIs for Las Vegas, Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate.
Even so, Payton never received a call-up to the big leagues fromthe A’s. Itwas a tough pill to swallow. “It stunk not being called up,” he said. “I wasn’t on their 40man roster, so that complicated things.”
In 2014, the University of Texas product was drafted in the seventh round by the New York Yankees.
Payton spent six seasons in the Yankees’ minor league system, including four years in Triple-A. His path to the majors was blocked by a glut of prospects that included Aaron Judge.
The A’s signed him to a minor league free-agent contract last offseason.
Payton is a .286 career hitter with 101 doubles, 62 homers and 280 RBIs in seven seasons. Yes, 30 of those homers came last year.
Admittedly, Payton said the ball was a little livelier in 2019, but he doesn’t discount the work he put in that boosted his power numbers.
“I made an adjustment to lowering the ball coming off my bat and elevated the ball more,” he said. “I didn’t have as many swings and misses. The more you don’t chase pitches, the better off you are.”
Since the Rule 5 draft, the Reds have signed free-agent outfielders Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama. They already had established outfielders in Nick Senzel, Aristides Aquino and Jesse-Winker.
That’s a lot of talent.
The 5-foot-8 Payton is un-
fazed. He has never backed away froma challenge.
At his height, he has had to let his bat and glove do the talking his entire career to quiet critics more focused on size than production.
“Obviously, the more guys they sign the tougher the situation is,” he said. “But I’m ready to compete.”
The expansion of major league rosters this season from25 to 26 players definitely could work in
Payton’s favor.
Time is not on the 28-year-old Payton’s side. In fact, Father Time is as much of a nemesis as any hard-throwing pitcher.
Payton, however, is a winner. Iwould never doubt him.
“I try to block the age out,” he said. “My body feels good. I feel stronger and more athletic. I feel like there’s a lot of baseball left in me. I’m not going to give up on it.
“I’m looking forward to breaking camp with Cincinnati. If not, hopefully one of the other 29 teams needs an outfielder.”
They could do far worse than Payton.