To figure out who the top MLB players for 2018 to 2019 were, we considered the number of things: their potential for growth, their pedigree, and their body of work in the minors and majors. Though all of them are not well known, there are numerous young talented players in the sport of baseball. To put together this collection, we chose the series’ best “youngsters” and highlighted them.
At least one big league appearance was required in order for a player to make the list here. (unfortunately, that leaves Elroy Jimenez and Vlad Guerrero Jr. out.) How players have already done in the major leagues will be used for evaluation as well as their projected upside.
Below, the player’s age as of the 2019 Opening Day, team, and position will be listed. Their prior list rating will also be listed if they were on last year's list. Eligible once again for the top 25 were any number of last year's listed players.
Happy 25th Birthday!
From last year's list, there are 13 players who, on 2019 Opening Day, were 25 years old:
- Cleveland Indians’ Francisco Lindor (#2, SS)
- Philadelphia Phillies’ Aaron Nola (#4, SP)
- New York Yankees’ Luis Severino (#5, SP)
- Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner (#6, SS)
- Houston Astros’ Lance McCullers, Jr. (#9, SP)
- Oakland Athletics’ Matt Chapman (#11, 3B)
- Minnesota Twins’ Miguel Sano (#15, 3B)
- Texas Rangers’ Joey Gallo (#16, 1B/LF)
- Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton (#17, CF)
- Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong (#20, SS)
- New York Mets’ Edwin Diaz (#22, RP)
- Cincinnati Reds’ Jesse Winkler (#24, RF)
- Boston Red Sox’ Eduardo Rodriguez (#25, SP)
And Now For the Top 25…
Listed from #1 to #25, here are the top 25 players who were under 25 years of age as of Opening Day 2019:
- Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman (3B, 24 years of age, ranked #7 last season)
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Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna (RF, 21 years of age)
- Boston Red Sox player Andrew Benintendi (LF, 24 years of age, #8 last season)
- Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto (RF, 20 years of age)
- Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani (DH/SP, 24 years of age)
- Los Angeles Dodgers’ Walker Buehler (SP, 24 years of age)
- Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa (SS, 24 years of age)
- Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies (2B, 24 years of age, received honorable mention last season)
- New York Yankees’ Gleyber Torres (2B, 22 years of age)
- Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger (CF/IB, 23 years of age, #10 last season)
- Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cory Seager (SS, 24 years of age, #3 last season)
- Minnesota Twins’ Jose Berrios (SP, 24 years of age, #14 last season)
- Louis Cardinals’ Jack Flaherty (SP, 23 years of age)
- Oakland Athletics’ Matt Olson (1B, 24 years of age, #12 last season)
- New York Yankees’ Miguel Andujar (3B, 24 years of age)
- Colorado Rockies’ German Marquez (SP, 24 years of age, received honorable mention last season)
- Louis Cardinals’ Harrison Bader (CF, 24 years of age)
- Oakland Athletics’ Ramon Laureano (CF, 24 years of age)
- Milwaukee Brewers’ Josh Harder (RP, 24 years of age)
- Colorado Rockies’ David Dahl (OF, 24 years of age)
- Toronto Blue Jays’ Roberto Osuna (RP, 24 years of age, #13 last season)
- Chicago White Sox’ Yoan Moncada (2B, 23 years of age, #18 last season)
- Louis Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks (RP, 22 years of age)
- Boston Red Sox’ Rafael Devers (3B, 22 years of age, #19 last season)
- Louis Cardinals’ Tyler O'Neill (OF, 23 years of age)
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