Positive Trend Shows More Black Players On MLB Rosters

The uptick is microscopic but also resounding.

More Black players were on MLB rosters on opening day this year, at 7.8%, or 80 players, comprising the 30-man rosters, injured and restricted lists, according to analysis by USA TODAY Sports. It’s the largest percentage of Black players on MLB rosters in nine years, when 2011 rosters had 7.9%.

Yes, some numbers are still embarrassing. Three teams – the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays – didn’t have a single Black player on their 2020 opening-day roster. And 14 of the 30 teams have two or fewer. But the trend is still a positive. Especially in Seattle, where the Mariners had 10 Black players on their opening-day roster; that’s more Black players than the entire American League Central Division, and as many as the NL West.

Andy McKay, the Mariners director of player development, said the team doesn’t “have the answer you might be looking for, but we have a core group of Black players because they’re really good baseball players. We’re trying to find the best players we can find.’’

The USA Today research pointed to Division-I college ranks as “the greatest advertisement” for Black baseball players. The 2019 College World Series championship between Michigan and Vanderbilt had seven Black players on each team, representing 20% of the top two programs in the country. Eastern Kentucky head coach Edwin Thompson has had nine Black players drafted or signed by major league teams in his five-year tenure, including All-American catcher A.J. Lewis, who signed last week with the Colorado Rockies.

Thompson, one of only three Black head coaches in NCAA Division I, told the USA Today: “I really feel like there’s more Black players coming now, and I think we’ll see a wave in the next three to five years.”

The uptick in Black players on MLB rosters dovetails into the MLB’s upcoming celebration of the the 100th anniversary of the founding of “the Negro Leagues.” On Sunday, all players, managers, coaches, and umpires will wear a Negro Leagues 100th anniversary logo.

Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, knows the increase in Black major leaguers is small but telling. He said: “We live in a microwave society, and we want to see instant change. That doesn’t happen in baseball. But I am encouraged. I do think we’re seeing a total shift in interest in this sport, and that’s what gives me hope, that we start seeing a reversal of those numbers.”

What else could spark this reversal? How about Mookie Betts — a Black player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is becoming the face of the sport.

The Angels’ Mike Trout, arguably baseball’s best player who is white, has shunned attention. Betts says he will not. He said his goal of bringing baseball into Black communities is “a personal thing.” Betts said: “It’s on us, as in the Black players, [to] make baseball cool because I think that’s where the disconnect is. Us, as Black people, don’t think it’s that much fun so we have to find a way to make it fun for the Black community and get more guys here.”