Here are the 24 youngest players on Opening Day rosters.
When 20-year-old Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio takes the field in New York on Friday, he will become the first player born in the year 2004 or later to play in the Major Leagues.
MLB’s No. 2 prospect is the youngest player to make an Opening Day roster this year, and he takes the distinction with a significant amount of clearance, as he’s ten months and 22 days younger than the second-youngest player, Jackson Merrill of the Padres.
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Ten of the 11 youngest players to open the season in The Show this year are position players — the first four on this list will all be roaming outfields for their respective club. In fact, the most prominent positions are shortstop (nine) and outfielder (eight). Only two of the youngest 24 players to open the season in the bigs are hurlers — Anthony Molina and Kyle Harrison.
The Cardinals boast the most youth with three players on this list. The Rangers, Rockies, Angels and Tigers have two apiece. 2023’s AL Rookie of the year Gunnar Henderson enters the year as the 15th youngest player and 2022’s NL and AL ROYs, Michael Harris II and Julio Rodríguez, still come in at No. 17 and No. 21, respectively, despite already impressive résumés in the Majors.
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1. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers (age 20, DOB: March 11, 2004)
Although he hasn’t played a game in the Majors yet, MLB’s No. 2 overall prospect earned an eight-year, $82 million contract, the largest ever for a player before their big league debut. It’s well earned: The Venezuelan phenom has consistently been one of the top performers at each Minor League level despite being one of the youngest. Between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville last year, he became the fifth 20-homer, 40-steal teenager in Minors history.
