Anthony Castrovince/MLB.com
Jackie Robinson he was the symbol of how baseball can break down barriers and bring people of all races and colors together. So Jackie Robinson Day is a great time to take a look at the diversity in Major League Baseball today.
As of Opening Day, Major League Baseball’s rosters ranked as the most diverse in all of North American professional sports, with 40.34% of all rosters (including DL, suspended, and restricted lists) hailing from diverse locations – an increase of 2.34% compared to last year.
This, taking into consideration a total of 345 players – 59 African Americans (6.2%), 285 Latino/Hispanic (30.2%), 30 Asians (3.2%), six Pacific Islanders/Hawaiians (0.53%) and two Native Americans (0.21 %).
An additional 45 players with major league service time or on rosters of 40 have been called up since then, automatically increasing those numbers.
Among African-American players on Opening Day, 63% were under the age of 30, with an overall average of 27 years. That relative youth, combined with the trends seen in the amateur Draft, point to a future in which a higher percentage of this type of player can be seen at the Major League level.
Additionally, six players who did not make the Opening Day roster have since been called up: Stone Garrett, Keynan Middleton, Willie Calhoun, Akil Baddoo, Taj Bradley and Vaughn Grissom.
So far, six of the top 25 prospects, 10 of the top 50 and 14 of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list are African-American.
In the last two years, African-American players have made up 12.5% of the top 100 selections (12 out of 100 in 2021 and 13 out of 100 in 2022). Four of the first five picks in the 2022 Amateur Draft were African-American – the first time this has happened in the event’s history. All four came out of the DREAM Series, a diversity-focused development program offered by MLB and USA Baseball. In the initial round, 12 selections (40%) were African American or Latino.
Meanwhile, 11 African-American players are projected to be among the top 100 prospects heading into the 2023 Amateur Draft.
Overall, 49% of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects are made up of players from various cultures (African-American, Latino, Asian).
As MLB aims for a higher percentage of African-American players over the years, it is important to highlight the impact that these types of players are having on the sport today. Three of the past six Rookies of the Year have been African-American players — Kyle Lewis in 2020 with the Mariners, Devin Williams that same year with the Brewers and Michael Harris II in 2022 with the Braves.
Aaron Judge was the 2022 American League MVP. He and Harris were part of four of last year’s six BBWAA award winners who come from diverse cultures, along with Sandy Alcántara, who won the Award. Cy Young of the National League and Julio Rodríguez, also from Dominican Republic, who won the American Rookie of the Year award. The All MLB Team featured 11 players (35.5%) not born in the United States and 16 (51.7%) from other backgrounds.
In the 2022 All-Star Game, 14 of the 18 players who started in both leagues were culturally diverse, while 31 players who participated in the event were born outside the United States (42.4%). At the SiriusXM Futures Game, 26 of the 52 players (50%) were of mixed origin, including 16 foreigners and eight African-Americans. And when Team USA assembled its top stars for the World Baseball Classic, it assembled a roster that featured eight players (27% of the roster of 30) from diverse cultures, including four African-American players: Tim Anderson, Mookie Betts, Cedric Mullins, and Williams.
Robinson’s historic debut desegregated Major League Baseball and made it possible for the sport to reflect the breadth of society and diversity that makes the game so special. The number of African-American players, specifically, remains a work in progress, although there are signs that MLB’s focus in this area is beginning to pay off at youth levels. In general, it is enough to take a look at the rosters of the Majors to witness a wide spectrum of diversity and cultures, coming together to play ball.
Via: mlb.com
