Former Mudcats pitcher and Cary native Max Povse called up by Seattle
Zebulon – Former Carolina Mudcats starting pitcher and Cary native Max Povse will soon make his Major League Baseball debut as he was called up the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Povse, 23, pitched for the Mudcats during the 2015 and 2016 seasons and was a mid-season Carolina League All-Star last year before earning a promotion to Double-A Mississippi in the Atlanta Braves minor league system.
The 6’8” right-hander was 5-5 and pitched to a 3.71 ERA over 15 starts with the Mudcats last year and was second in the Carolina League in strikeouts with 91 over 87.1 innings at the time of his promotion to
Mississippi. He also opened the 2016 season on a scoreless innings streak that spanned three games and his first 16.1 innings pitched with the Mudcats.
Povse additionally began the 2015 season in Low-A Rome and was 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 59.2 innings. He pitched in a total of 12 starts with the Rome Braves in 2015 before eventually earning a promotion to Carolina that same year. He then appeared in five games for the Mudcats and was 1-3 with a 9.33 ERA before eventually finishing the season on the disabled list.
Povse was originally drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft out of UNC Greensboro.
The Mariners acquired Povse in a trade with the Braves this past off-season. He and former Mudcats pitcher Rob Whalen (2015) were sent to Seattle in exchange for outfielder Alex Jackson. Whalen was optioned to Double-A Arkansas today as well by the Mariners.
Povse began the 2017 season with Double-A Arkansas and was 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA over nine games and eight starts with the Travelers before the promotion.
The Carolina Mudcats are the new Carolina League, Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.
