Perry's Player Profiles - Mark Payton

2022 Charlotte Knights fan favorite outfielder Mark Payton is back with the Chicago White Sox organization in 2024 after spending the 2023 season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Saitama Seibu Lions.

2022 KNIGHTHOOD
In 2022, when the Knights’ armor looked slightly different, Payton was invaluable. He led the team in all statistical categories except for walks and stolen bases.

He appeared in 119 games with the team, hitting .293 (138-471) with 85 runs scored, 31 doubles, five triples, 25 home runs, 95 RBI, 54 walks and 15 stolen bases.

That year, his success in the Queen City earned him a call to the South Side with the White Sox, where he appeared in eight games at the end of their season.

2023 NPB
During the 2023 season, the Chicago native Payton found himself playing in Tokorozawa, Japan, nearly 6,300 miles away from his hometown.

He played 82 games with the Lions, hitting .220 (63-287) with 28 runs scored, 14 doubles, six home runs and 35 RBI.

After spending the year in Japan, Payton is going back stateside with the White Sox organization.

2024 SPRING TRAINING
This spring, the left-handed batter has appeared in eight games with the White Sox, hitting .333 (3-9), including three runs scored, one home run, three RBI and four walks.

His best spring training performance thus far came against the Texas Rangers. He hit a solo home run off former All-Star right-handed pitcher Kirby Yates and later had a two-run RBI single against another former All-Star right-handed pitcher, Shane Greene. He was responsible for plating all three runs by the White Sox in the game.

BEFORE PRO BALL
Before being drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 MLB draft by the New York Yankees, Payton was making Big 12 history with the University of Texas baseball program.

During his impressive career with the Longhorns, he set the consecutive games reached-base streak, finding himself on base in 101 consecutive games, getting just past the century mark, setting Big 12 history starting on March 5, 2013, and lasting until June 14, 2014, where UC Irvine held him hitless in their College World Series matchup.

His Texas record on-base streak is the longest known streak in NCAA history, but since the NCAA did not track that stat streak, it is an “unofficial” official NCAA record.

In his collegiate career, he played in 234 games, hitting .318 (276-867) with 137 runs scored, 50 doubles, 19 triples, seven home runs, 122 RBI, 148 walks and 36 stolen bases.