The 30 Youngest, Oldest MLB Players To Start 2024

Image credit: Jackson Chourio (Freek Bouw/Four Seam Images)

Jackson Chourio is the youngest player on any MLB Opening Day active roster, and he’s also one of the youngest players to debut in years.

Since 2010, only Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Jurickson Profar, Dylan Bundy, Julio Urias, Juan Soto and Elvis Luciano have made their MLB debuts at a younger age than Chourio, who turned 20 on March 11. Soto is the only position player since 2012 to debut at a younger age.

Here’s the complete list of MLB players who debuted at a younger age than Chourio since 1991.

Player	Debut Year	Age
Ivan Rodriguez	1991	19.56
Todd Van Poppel	1991	19.76
Alex Rodriguez	1994	18.95
Karim Garcia	1995	19.84
Andruw Jones	1996	19.31
Gene Kingsale	1996	20.04
Adrian Beltre	1998	19.21
Aramis Ramirez	1998	19.92
Wilson Betemit	2001	19.88
Jose Reyes	2003	20.00
Edwin Jackson	2003	20.00
B.J. Upton	2004	19.95
Andres Blanco	2004	20.02
Felix Hernandez	2005	19.32
Justin Upton	2007	19.94
Mike Trout	2011	19.92
Bryce Harper	2012	19.53
Jurickson Profar	2012	19.53
Dylan Bundy	2012	19.85
Julio Urias	2016	19.79
Juan Soto	2018	19.55
Elvis Luciano	2019	19.12

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill is the other 20-year-old on an Opening Day roster, while Julio Rodriguez stands out as a very established star who still ranks among MLB’s youngest.

30 youngest big leaguers on Opening Day

Rank	Player	Position	Team	Age
1	Jackson Chourio	OF	Milwaukee Brewers	20.05
2	Jackson Merrill	OF	San Diego Padres	20.94
3	Evan Carter	CF	Texas Rangers	21.58
4	Jordan Walker	OF	St. Louis Cardinals	21.85
5	Masyn Winn	SS	St. Louis Cardinals	22.02
6	Nolan Schanuel	1B	Los Angeles Angels	22.12
7	Anthony Molina	RHP	Colorado Rockies	22.21
8	Elly De La Cruz	3B	Cincinnati Reds	22.21
9	Francisco Alvarez	C	New York Mets	22.36
10	Wyatt Langford	OF	Texas Rangers	22.37
11	Colt Keith	2B	Detroit Tigers	22.62
12	Kyle Harrison	LHP	San Francisco Giants	22.63
13	Jared Jones	RHP	Pittsburgh Pirates	22.64
14	Darell Hernaiz	SS	Oakland Athletics	22.65
15	Ezequiel Tovar	SS	Colorado Rockies	22.66
16	Gunnar Henderson	3B	Baltimore Orioles	22.75
17	Anthony Volpe	SS	New York Yankees	22.92
18	Michael Harris	OF	Atlanta Braves	23.06
19	Victor Scott	OF	St. Louis Cardinals	23.12
20	Zach Neto	SS	Los Angeles Angels	23.16
21	Brayan Rocchio	SS	Cleveland Guardians	23.21
22	Julio Rodriguez	OF	Seattle Mariners	23.25
23	Curtis Mead	2B	Tampa Bay Rays	23.42
24	CJ Abrams	SS	Washington Nationals	23.49
25	Riley Greene	CF	Detroit Tigers	23.50
26	Graham Pauley	3B	San Diego Padres	23.51
27	Ceddanne Rafaela	OF	Boston Red Sox	23.53
28	Luke Little	LHP	Chicago Cubs	23.58
29	Corbin Carroll	OF	Arizona Diamondbacks	23.60
30	Nasim Nunez	SS	Washington Nationals	23.61

The Braves decision to add Jesse Chavez to the Opening Day roster makes him the old man of all 30 MLB rosters. He actually takes the title away from teammate Charlie Morton. With Zack Greinke unsigned, those two are the only 2002 draftees remaining in the major leagues.

30 oldest big leaguers on Opening Day

Rank	Player	Position	Team	Age
30	Aroldis Chapman	LHP	Pittsburgh Pirates	36.08
29	Chase Anderson	RHP	Boston Red Sox	36.33
28	Bryan Shaw	RHP	Chicago White Sox	36.39
27	Jay Jackson	RHP	Minnesota Twins	36.42
26	Kyle Gibson	RHP	St. Louis Cardinals	36.43
25	Kenley Jansen	RHP	Boston Red Sox	36.50
24	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	St. Louis Cardinals	36.55
23	Ryan Brasier	RHP	Los Angeles Dodgers	36.59
22	Justin Wilson	LHP	Cincinnati Reds	36.61
21	Yan Gomes	C	Chicago Cubs	36.70
20	Lance Lynn	RHP	St. Louis Cardinals	36.88
19	Kirby Yates	RHP	Texas Rangers	37.01
18	Carlos Carrasco	RHP	Cleveland Guardians	37.02
17	Daniel Hudson	RHP	Los Angeles Dodgers	37.06
16	Luis Garcia	RHP	Los Angeles Angels	37.16
15	Jose Abreu	1B	Houston Astros	37.16
14	Jake Diekman	LHP	New York Mets	37.19
13	Brandon Crawford	SS	St. Louis Cardinals	37.19
12	Andrew McCutchen	DH	Pittsburgh Pirates	37.47
11	Martin Maldonado	C	Chicago White Sox	37.62
10	Yu Darvish	RHP	San Diego Padres	37.62
9	Charlie Blackmon	DH	Colorado Rockies	37.74
8	Chris Martin	RHP	Boston Red Sox	37.82
7	Carlos Santana	1B	Minnesota Twins	37.97
6	Matt Carpenter	DH	St. Louis Cardinals	38.34
5	Adam Ottavino	RHP	New York Mets	38.35
4	David Robertson	RHP	Texas Rangers	38.97
3	Justin Turner	3B	Toronto Blue Jays	39.35
2	Charlie Morton	RHP	Atlanta Braves	40.38
1	Jesse Chavez	RHP	Atlanta Braves	40.61