Nelson Payano

Nelson Rafael Payano

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

• High School Colegio Bethesda

• Born November 13, 1982 in Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

Nelson Payano has pitched 9 seasons in the minors (through 2008).

Payano signed at age 18, inking a deal with the Atlanta Braves. He debuted as a pro with the 2001 DSL Braves, allowing 23 runs in 20 1/3 innings; his control was awful as he walked 28 and threw 8 wild pitches. In 2002, he improved to 2-5, 4.60 for the same club, though he still walked 40 in 47 innings. Coming stateside in 2003, he allowed 10 runs and 10 walks in 13 1/3 innings for the GCL Braves. He split 2004 between the GCL Braves (1-1, 0.52 in 5 games) and the Danville Braves (2-0, 4.13, 34 K in 24 IP). In 2005, the southpaw only got into one game for the Rome Braves.

Payano bounced around in 2006, appearing for Rome (3-5, Sv, 5.21, 47 K in 46 2/3 IP), the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (6 R in 4 1/3 IP) and GCL Braves (5 R in 5 IP). In 2007, he split time between Myrtle Beach (4-4, 3.56, 45 H, 51 BB, 83 K in 60 2/3 IP) and the Mississippi Braves (1-1, 4.91 in 4 games). He went 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in 19 games for the Leones del Escogido.

Payano began 2008 with Mississippi and had a 3-2, 3.95 record in 27 games. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners as the player to be named later in a deal for Greg Norton. He was 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA in 14 outings for the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, walking 20 and fanning 29 in 23 2/3 innings.

In December 2008, Payano signed a deal with the Chunichi Dragons. He debuted in Japan on April 5 with a scoreless 8th inning against the Yokohama BayStars.