Robert William Poyner (born December 1, 1992) is a former American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He throws and bats left-handed, and is listed at and . He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for two seasons 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Early years

Poyner attended Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington, Florida. He played for the school's baseball team, but suffered a torn labrum in 2011, his senior year. He enrolled at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and played

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for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

from 2012 through 2015. While at Florida, he pursued a degree in finance. In 2013 and 2014, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Firebirds 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 The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

The

selected Poyner in the 14th round, with the 411th overall selection, of the 2015 MLB draft. After he signed, he made his professional debut with the

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 Leagu ...

of the Low–A

New York-Penn League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, and spent the whole season there, pitching to a 1–2 record and 2.28

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 17

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

appearances. Poyner began the 2016 season with the Greenville Drive of the Single–A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, and was promoted in June to the

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, Virginia, Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Car ...

of the High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. In innings pitched between the two teams, he compiled a 3–1 record and 3.15 ERA. In 2017, Poyner started the season with Salem, and was promoted to the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

of the Double-A Eastern League. He posted a combined 2–1 record, 1.49 ERA, and 0.93

WHIP A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

with 84 strikeouts in total innings pitched between the two teams. After the regular season, he pitched in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. ;2018 In 2018, the Red Sox invited Poyner to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

as a non-roster player to compete for a major league role; he was named to Boston's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster. Poyner made his MLB debut on March 31, pitching of an inning against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

while allowing one hit, a home run by Carlos Gómez. Poyner recorded his first major league win on April 5, pitching two innings of scoreless relief, again against Tampa Bay. On April 12, Poyner was placed on the 10-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

, due to a left hamstring strain; he was subsequently sent to Double-A Portland and 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 ...

on rehabilitation assignments, and then optioned to Pawtucket. He was recalled to Boston on May 4, pitched one inning that day against the Texas Rangers, and optioned back to Pawtucket the next day. Poyner was recalled to Boston on May 15, made two appearances, and sent back to Triple-A on May 24. On June 2, Poyner was recalled to Boston, made one appearance, and returned to Pawtucket on June 7. He was again recalled to Boston on July 14, but did not make an appearance before being returned to Triple-A on July 21. Poyner was called up to Boston on September 1, when rosters expanded. He finished the season with a 1–0 record in 20 appearances with Boston, recording a 3.22 ERA and 24 strikeouts in innings. Poyner was not included on Boston's postseason roster, as the team went on to win the

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over the

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. ;2019 In 2019, Poyner was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket prior to Opening Day. He was recalled to Boston on April 20, when

Nathan Eovaldi Nathan Edward Eovaldi ( ; born February 13, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Mar ...

went on the injured list, and optioned back to Pawtucket after the first game of a doubleheader on April 23. Poyner was later recalled to Boston on June 10, and optioned back to Pawtucket two days later. He was recalled to Boston on September 4, following the end of the Triple-A season. Overall with the 2019 Red Sox, Poyner appeared in 13 games (one start), compiling an 0–1 record with 6.94 ERA and 11 strikeouts in innings. ;2020 On January 15, 2020, Poyner was designated for assignment by the Red Sox. Six days later, he was assigned outright to Triple-A Pawtucket. Prior to the delayed start of the 2020 season, Poyner was added to Boston's alternate player pool on July 17, and was removed from the alternate player pool on July 21. Poyner did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. ;2021 Poyner was assigned to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox to begin the 2021 season. After recording a 9.69 ERA across 8 appearances in Worcester, Poyner was released by the Red Sox organization on July 5, 2021.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poyner, Bobby 1992 births Living people Baseball players from West Palm Beach, Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Florida Gators baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Lowell Spinners players Greenville Drive players Salem Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Peoria Javelinas players Worcester Red Sox players Madison Mallards players