Cincinnati Reds: Five players fighting for a roster spot during spring training

2. Mark Payton, Outfielder

A lot of fans are focused on the Reds outfield, and rightfully so. Cincinnati has a plethora of talented players who will be tasked with taking reps on the outfield grass. Barring a trade, Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel, Shogo Akiyama, Phillip Ervin and Nick Castellanos will make the team. Aristides Aquino has a minor-league option remaining, something that can’t be said for Mark Payton.

Payton was picked up by Cincinnati in the Rule 5 Draft. The Reds plucked Payton off the Oakland Athletics’ roster, one year after the A’s snagged the outfielder from the New York Yankees. Payton hasn’t played a lick in the big leagues, topping out at Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre while playing for the Yankees organization. Payton played 110 games for Triple-A Las Vegas last season.

Mark Payton has power. For his career in the minors, the 28-year-old has a .455 slugging percentage, 62 home runs and 280 RBIs. Last season, Payton slashed a phenomenal .334/.400/.653 with a 17% strikeout-rate according to FanGraphs. Payton was 14th in the entire Pacific Coast League in 2019 with 30 round trippers.

Payton has an uphill climb to make the Opening Day roster, especially with the additions of Castellanos and Akiyama. However, Senzel’s health to begin the season is still a question mark and Payton has the versatility to play all over the outfield grass. A solid showing during spring training could vault Payton onto the 26-man roster.