Joey Gathright

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**Joey Gathright**
Major League Baseball debut
Kansas City Royals — No. 1
Center Fielder
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
June 25, 2004 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Selected MLB statistics (through 2005)
Batting average	.271
Home runs	0
Stolen bases	26
Teams
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004–2006)

Joey Renard Gathright (born April 27, 1981 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is a Major League Baseball player for the Kansas City Royals.

Gathright made his major league debut with the Devil Rays on June 25, 2004. He attended Bonnabel High School in Kenner, Louisiana, and he played baseball as a junior. Gathright was drafted by the Devil Rays in the 32nd round of the 2001 draft, and he signed in August after playing that summer in a Louisiana Sugar Cane League in Sorrento, Louisiana.

Gathright's best attribute is his amazing speed, making him arguably one of the fastest players in Major League Baseball. He has been clocked at 6.1 seconds in the 60-yard dash. He also jumped over a car in his youth.^[1] Gathright however, is considered a very raw talent, especially for a major-league caliber player. Gathright is a below-average defensive center-fielder with a weak arm, and a below-average base runner, weaknesses that are partially hidden by his speed, where he has the ability to make spectacular jumping and diving catches in the field and has good success stealing bases. He also has a hard time laying off high-fastballs, struggles against left-handed pitching and has almost no power in his bat. In 2005, Gathright was moderately successful at the plate, hitting .276 in only 76 games, but only drew 10 walks. In 2006, Gathright has so far struggled at the plate, hitting .197 in 49 games as the starting center-fielder. To his credit, he has thus far managed to draw 20 walks so far this season. On June 20, 2006 Gathright along with infielder Fernando Cortez, was traded to the Kansas City Royals for left-handed pitcher J.P. Howell.

Gathright has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, having studied the Korean martial art from ages 8 to 18, before stopping after he got drafted to play baseball.