Rich Poythress (born ) is an American professional

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who is a free agent. He was drafted by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in the second round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.

College career

Poythress attended Greenbrier High School where he was a four-year varsity starter. As a junior, he

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.544 with 13 home runs. He also played for the Savannah Chain summer team. Poythress attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

where as a freshman he appeared in 45 games, 38 starts. He batted .282 with three home runs and 24

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He recovered from a torn ACL before the season. Poythress played started 69 games with the Bulldogs in his sophomore season. He helped the team become the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

champions and helped them in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

. He batted .374 with 15 home runs and 75 RBIs. He started all six College World Series games and hit .409 with three doubles and eight RBIs. Poythress set a school-record with 55 assists at first base and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. After the 2008 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. In his junior season Poythress started all of the Bulldog's 62 games. His .376 average with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs were a team lead. His RBIs were an all-time single-season record at the school. He was named to the First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team as well as a Louisville Slugger All-American. He was named as a semi-finalist for the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the a ...

. During the season, he was named SEC player of the Week and a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week after helping the Bulldogs to a sweep over the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Professional career

Poythress was drafted by the

in the second round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. The Mariners signed him on July 29, 2009. He began his professional career with the Rookie-Level

Peoria Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...

of the

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it ...

. He hit .300 with one home runs and six RBIs in six games with Peoria. He was promoted to the Double-A

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...

of the Southern League on August 9. With the Diamond Jaxx he hit .230 with two doubles, one home run and nine RBIs in 26 games. In 2010, Poythress was assigned to the Class-A Advanced

High Desert Mavericks The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eigh ...

of the California League. He played in the Mariners organization until 2013 without reaching the majors. Poythress signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins in April 2014. He then signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves in July 2014. He is said to have very good power and that is his stand out tool. It is also said that he has below average speed, an average throwing arm and has been compared to players like Ryan Shealy and Matt LeCroy. Before the 2009 draft he was named as the number 12 prospect by

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References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poythress, Rich 1987 births Living people Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Arizona League Mariners players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players High Desert Mavericks players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Tacoma Rainiers players Jacksonville Suns players Mississippi Braves players People from Grovetown, Georgia