Youngest Players By League On Opening Day, 2022

By J.J. Cooper Josh Norris
on April 11, 2022

If history is any indication, a team aggressively moving a player up the minor league ladder serves as an excellent vote of confidence. It's also often a sign of great things to come.

For an example, let's turn the clock all the way back to 2021. The youngest player in Triple-A was Wander Franco. A year later, he's made his big league debut, was part of a playoff roster and looks like he has a chance to reach his lofty ceiling.

The youngest player in the Double-A Texas League was Padres super prospect CJ Abrams. Opening Day this year? He's in the big leagues. The same might have been true for Tigers outfielder Riley Greene—who was the youngest player in the Double-A Eastern League—were it not for a broken foot suffered late in spring training. Hunter Greene was the fifth-youngest player in the Double-A Southern League, and he dazzled this past week in his first big league start.

The youngest player in the High-A Northwest League was Mariners Uber-talent Julio Rodriguez. Guess where he spent his Opening Day. That's right, with the big league team in Minnesota.

The youngest player on any Opening Day roster in 2021 was Marlins righthander Eury Perez, who made the Low-A roster despite having never thrown a pro pitch. He crushed the competition in the Florida State League, and finished the year with five starts in the Midwest League. Instead of returning to High-A, the Marlins chose to jump Perez to Double-A, where he's the youngest player at any classification above Low-A.

Perez's Double-A assignment is the first time an 18-year-old pitcher has begun the season in Double-A since Julio Urias began the 2015 season at Double-A Tulsa. Urias and Perez are the only two 18-year-old pitchers since 2010 to begin a season at Double-A.

Below, Baseball America once again brings you the youngest players at each minor league level. Some names are familiar, others aren't. Five leagues, including the National League, have Top 100 Prospects as their youngest player. The players who are at the top of the other leagues might just be on the Top 100 by this time next year.

Also worth noting. Nationals star Juan Soto was the fifth-youngest player on any National League roster for Opening Day 2022. Soto is also tied for 100th on the active leaderboard for MLB home runs (99) and is 48th among all active players in walks (375).

American League
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Wander Franco, SS	Tampa Bay Rays	TB	21.10
2	Julio Rodriguez, RF	Seattle Mariners	SEA	21.27
3	Bobby Witt, SS	Kansas City Royals	KC	21.82
4	Luis Patino, RHP	Tampa Bay Rays	TB	22.45
5	Spencer Torkelson, 3B	Detroit Tigers	DET	22.62
6	Joe Perez, 3B	Houston Astros	HOU	22.66
7	Jarred Kelenic, LF	Seattle Mariners	SEA	22.73
8	Reid Detmers, LHP	Los Angeles Angels	LAA	22.75
9	Jo Adell, LF	Los Angeles Angels	LAA	23.00
10	Vladimir Guerrero, 1B	Toronto Blue Jays	TOR	23.06
National League
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	CJ Abrams, SS	San Diego Padres	SD	21.51
2	Geraldo Perdomo, SS	Arizona Diamondbacks	ARI	22.47
3	Hunter Greene, RHP	Cincinnati Reds	CIN	22.67
4	Spencer Strider, RHP	Atlanta Braves	ATL	23.45
5	Juan Soto, RF	Washington Nationals	WAS	23.45
6	Dylan Carlson, CF	St. Louis Cardinals	STL	23.46
7	Andre Pallante, RHP	St. Louis Cardinals	STL	23.55
8	Brusdar Graterol, RHP	Los Angeles Dodgers	LAD	23.62
9	Joan Adon, RHP	Washington Nationals	WAS	23.66
10	Keibert Ruiz, C	Washington Nationals	WAS	23.72
International League (AAA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Oswald Peraza, SS	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders	NYY	21.81
2	Ivan Herrera, C	Memphis Redbirds	STL	21.85
3	Luis Garcia, SS	Rochester Red Wings	WAS	21.90
4	Nolan Gorman, 3B	Memphis Redbirds	STL	21.91
5	Gabriel Arias, SS	Columbus Clippers	CLE	22.11
6	Triston Casas, 1B	Worcester Red Sox	BOS	22.23
7	Mark Vientos, 3B	Syracuse Mets	NYM	22.33
8	Brice Turang, SS	Nashville Sounds	MIL	22.38
9	Grayson Rodriguez, RHP	Norfolk Tides	BAL	22.39
10	Roansy Contreras, RHP	Indianapolis Indians	PIT	22.42
Pacific Coast League (AAA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Miguel Perez, CF	Tacoma Rainiers	SEA	21.63
2	Alek Thomas, CF	Reno Aces	ARI	21.94
3	Ryan Weathers, LHP	El Paso Chihuahuas	SD	22.31
4	Cole Winn, RHP	Round Rock Express	TEX	22.37
5	Miguel Vargas, 3B	Oklahoma City Dodgers	LAD	22.39
6	Cesar Izturis, SS	Tacoma Rainiers	SEA	22.41
7	Heliot Ramos, CF	Sacramento River Cats	SF	22.59
8	Gregory Santos, RHP	Sacramento River Cats	SF	22.61
9	Eguy Rosario, 2B	El Paso Chihuahuas	SD	22.62
10	Ramon Perez, LHP	El Paso Chihuahuas	SD	22.77
Eastern League (AA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Francisco Alvarez, C	Binghamton Rumble Ponies	NYM	20.38
2	Orelvis Martinez, SS	New Hampshire Fisher Cats	TOR	20.38
3	Ezequiel Tovar, SS	Hartford Yard Goats	COL	20.69
4	Gunnar Henderson, SS	Bowie Baysox	BAL	20.78
5	Anthony Volpe, SS	Somerset Patriots	NYY	20.95
6	Ronny Mauricio, SS	Binghamton Rumble Ponies	NYM	21.01
7	Jose Tena, SS	Akron RubberDucks	CLE	21.05
8	Brayan Rocchio, SS	Akron RubberDucks	CLE	21.23
9	Daniel Espino, RHP	Akron RubberDucks	CLE	21.27
10	Liover Peguero, SS	Altoona Curve	PIT	21.27
Southern League (AA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Eury Perez, RHP	Pensacola Blue Wahoos	MIA	18.98
2	Jose Rodriguez , SS	Birmingham Barons	CWS	20.90
3	Taj Bradley, RHP	Montgomery Biscuits	TB	21.05
4	Michael Harris , CF	Mississippi Braves	ATL	21.09
5	Coleman Crow, RHP	Rocket City Trash Pandas	LAA	21.27
6	Felix Valerio, 2B	Biloxi Shuckers	MIL	21.28
7	Curtis Mead, 2B	Montgomery Biscuits	TB	21.45
8	Johan Lopez , SS	Montgomery Biscuits	TB	21.70
9	Ivan Armstrong, RHP	Rocket City Trash Pandas	LAA	21.70
10	Livan Soto, SS	Rocket City Trash Pandas	LAA	21.79
Texas League (AA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Jordan Walker, 3B	Springfield (MO) Cardinals	STL	19.88
2	Jaime Melendez , RHP	Corpus Christi Hooks	HOU	20.53
3	Julio Robaina, LHP	Corpus Christi Hooks	HOU	21.04
4	Malcom Nunez, 3B	Springfield (MO) Cardinals	STL	21.08
5	Andy Pages, RF	Tulsa Drillers	LAD	21.33
6	Dwayne Matos, RHP	San Antonio Missions	SD	21.42
7	Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP	Wichita Wind Surge	MIN	21.53
8	Corbin Carroll, OF	Amarillo Sod Poodles	ARI	21.63
9	Jordan Diaz, 3B	Midland RockHounds	OAK	21.65
10	Jonathan Ornelas, 3B	Frisco RoughRiders	TEX	21.87
Midwest (HiA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Owen Caissie, OF	South Bend Cubs	CHC	19.75
2	Brayan Buelvas, LF	Lansing Lugnuts	OAK	19.83
3	Petey Halpin, OF	Lake County Captains	CLE	19.87
4	Euribiel Angeles, 2B	Lansing Lugnuts	OAK	19.90
5	Yohendrick Pinango, LF	South Bend Cubs	CHC	19.92
6	Masyn Winn, SS	Peoria Chiefs	STL	20.05
7	Gabriel Rodriguez, SS	Lake County Captains	CLE	20.12
8	Ed Howard, SS	South Bend Cubs	CHC	20.19
9	Angel Martinez, 2B	Lake County Captains	CLE	20.20
10	Elly De La Cruz, 2B	Dayton Dragons	CIN	20.24
Northwest (HiA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Ronaldo Flores, C	Eugene Emeralds	SF	19.89
2	Luis Matos , OF	Eugene Emeralds	SF	20.19
3	Zac Veen, CF	Spokane Indians	COL	20.32
4	Kyren Paris, 2B	Tri-City Dust Devils	LAA	20.41
5	Noelvi Marte, SS	Everett AquaSox	SEA	20.48
6	Sem Robberse, RHP	Vancouver Canadians	TOR	20.49
7	Marco Luciano, SS	Eugene Emeralds	SF	20.58
8	Drew Romo, C	Spokane Indians	COL	20.60
9	Kyle Harrison, LHP	Eugene Emeralds	SF	20.66
10	AJ Vukovich, 3B	Hillsboro Hops	ARI	20.72
South Atlantic (HiA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Evan Carter, CF	Hickory Crawdads	TEX	19.68
2	Maikol Escotto, SS	Greensboro Grasshoppers	PIT	19.92
3	Thomas Saggese, SS	Hickory Crawdads	TEX	20.06
4	Nick Yorke, 2B	Greenville Drive	BOS	20.09
5	Bryan Ramos, 2B	Winston-Salem Dash	CWS	20.15
6	Luisangel Acuna, SS	Hickory Crawdads	TEX	20.15
7	Dariel Lopez, SS	Greensboro Grasshoppers	PIT	20.24
8	Coby Mayo, 3B	Aberdeen IronBirds	BAL	20.40
9	Cristian Gonzalez, SS	Asheville Tourists	HOU	20.53
10	Andrick Nava, C	Jersey Shore BlueClaws	PHI	20.57
California League (LoA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Victor Lizarraga, RHP	Lake Elsinore Storm	SD	18.36
2	Pedro Pineda, CF	Stockton Ports	OAK	18.59
3	Edwin Arroyo, SS	Modesto Nuts	SEA	18.62
4	Leonard Garcia, LHP	Inland Empire 66ers	LAA	18.67
5	Deyvison De Los Santos , 3B	Visalia Rawhide	ARI	18.80
6	Fernando Guanare, RHP	Inland Empire 66ers	LAA	18.80
7	Victor Juarez, RHP	Fresno Grizzlies	COL	18.80
8	Adrian Placencia, SS	Inland Empire 66ers	LAA	18.85
9	Alejandro Hidalgo , RHP	Inland Empire 66ers	LAA	18.88
10	Jackson Merrill, SS	Lake Elsinore Storm	SD	18.97
Carolina League (LoA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Hendry Mendez , LF	Carolina Mudcats	MIL	18.41
2	TJ White, OF	Fredericksburg Nationals	WAS	18.71
3	Carter Jensen, C	Columbia Fireflies	KC	18.77
4	Carson Williams, SS	Charleston (SC) RiverDogs	TB	18.79
5	Jose Corniell, RHP	Down East Wood Ducks	TEX	18.80
6	Moises Chace, RHP	Delmarva Shorebirds	BAL	18.83
7	Brady House, SS	Fredericksburg Nationals	WAS	18.84
8	Reggie Preciado, SS	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	CHC	18.90
9	Jheremy Vargas, SS	Carolina Mudcats	MIL	18.91
10	Alimber Santa, RHP	Fayetteville Woodpeckers	HOU	18.93
Florida State League (LoA)
Rk	Player, Pos.	Team	ORG	Age
1	Cristian Santana, SS	Lakeland Flying Tigers	DET	18.37
2	Carlos Marcano, RHP	Lakeland Flying Tigers	DET	18.75
3	Roberto Campos, OF	Lakeland Flying Tigers	DET	18.82
4	Jose Salas, SS	Jupiter Hammerheads	MIA	18.95
5	Kahlil Watson, SS	Jupiter Hammerheads	MIA	18.98
6	Andrew Painter, RHP	Clearwater Threshers	PHI	19.00
7	Chase Petty, RHP	Daytona Tortugas	CIN	19.01
8	Jeremy Rivas, SS	Palm Beach Cardinals	STL	19.10
9	Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF	Fort Myers Mighty Mussels	MIN	19.11
10	Dahian Santos, RHP	Dunedin Blue Jays	TOR	19.11