Austin Dean Maddox (born May 13, 1991) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He had previously played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He batted and threw right-handed, and is listed at and .

Early years

Maddox graduated from high school in 2009 as the top

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, having batted .544 in his senior year. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

in the 37th round of the 2009 MLB Draft, but he did not sign. Instead, he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he was teammates with future MLB catcher

Mike Zunino Michael Accorsi Zunino (born March 25, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays. Before beginning h ...

. Initially a catcher and infielder, Maddox batted .303 in his three seasons with the Gators (2010–2012). In 2011 and 2012, he made a total of 53 appearances as a pitcher,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

78 and

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

14 in innings, while compiling a 1.86

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA).

Professional career

Maddox was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the

2012 MLB Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto ...

, and signed with the team in June 2012. From 2012 through 2015, Maddox played in the lower levels of Boston's farm system; the Rookie League

Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

, the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...

, the Class A

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

, and the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...

. During 2016, he was promoted to the Double-A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox syst ...

and then the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

. In 2017, he again played in Portland and Pawtucket, and was called up to the majors for the first time on June 15. During six year in the minors, 2012 through 2017, Maddox appeared in 143 games, pitching innings with a 13–18 record, 4.27 ERA, and 1.282 WHIP, while recording 227 strikeouts, 83

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

s, and 25 saves. Maddox made his MLB debut on June 17, 2017, pitching the seventh inning in a Red Sox loss to the Houston Astros; he retired the side without allowing a baserunner. He appeared in one more game in June, one game in July, and then ten games during September. He finished the regular season with 13 appearances for the 2017 Red Sox, allowing just one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

in innings pitched (0.52 ERA), with 14 strikeouts and two walks. Maddox was included on Boston's postseason roster for the

2017 American League Division Series The 2017 American League Division Series were two best-of-five-games series held to determine the participating teams in the 2017 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners (seeded 1-3) and a fourth team—the winner of a ...

. He made two one-inning appearances against the Houston Astros, allowing one earned run (4.50 ERA), with two strikeouts and two walks, as the Red Sox lost to the eventual

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champions. Due to shoulder inflammation during spring training, Maddox began the 2018 season on the disabled list. He was sent on rehabilitation assignments with Triple-A Pawtucket on May 18, Double-A Portland on May 30, and Pawtucket again on June 2. On July 8, he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. On August 16, Maddox was sent on a rehabilitation assignment with the

, and on August 24 with Triple-A Pawtucket. On September 19, Maddox had surgery on his right

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

with what was described as a right shoulder strain; he did not play in any MLB games during 2018. After the season, the Red Sox sent Maddox outright to Pawtucket, removing him from their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

. Maddox spent the 2019 season on the injured list with Pawtucket. Maddox was released by the Red Sox on October 25, 2019. On February 28, 2020, Maddox announced his retirement from professional baseball.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddox, Austin 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Florida Gators baseball players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Lowell Spinners players Greenville Drive players Salem Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Águilas del Zulia players