Black baseball players are at historic lows. Can MLB change that?
| Phoenix
Zion Rose is well aware that the percentage of Black players in Major League Baseball has been on the decline for decades.
But the 18-year-old catcher from Chicago, still sweaty from a workout during MLB鈥檚 Draft Combine this week at Chase Field in Phoenix, said he鈥檚 got some news: That鈥檚 not going to be the case for long.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l see,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e starting to come through.鈥�
Mr. Rose was one of more than 300 players of all backgrounds in Phoenix this week to take part in the combine, which featured workouts, interviews, and games in an effort to showcase some of the game鈥檚 best amateur talent at the high school and college levels before July鈥檚 draft. MLB said that approximately 15% of the players in the showcase were Black.
The hope is that the next Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, or Andrew McCutchen will be in that bunch. Possibly several.
A recent study from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida found Black players represented just 6.2% of players on MLB opening day rosters, down from last year鈥檚 previous record low of 7.2%. Both figures are the lowest recorded in the study since it began in 1991, when 18% of players were Black. Last year鈥檚 World Series was the first since 1950 without a U.S.-born Black player.
There are tangible reasons to believe the percentage of Black players might be on the upswing soon.
Four of the first five players picked in last summer鈥檚 amateur draft were Black for the first time ever. Those four were among the hundreds who had participated in diversity initiatives such as the MLB Youth Academy, DREAM Series, and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. MLB has also pledged $150 million in a 10-year partnership with the Players Alliance. The nonprofit organization of current and former players works to increase Black involvement at all levels.
Many of those programs started several years ago, and the younger participants are starting to hit draft-eligible age.
Mr. Rose is among them. He said the diversity initiatives didn鈥檛 just provide exposure to scouts but also opened a vital pipeline for minority players to connect, share experiences, and see faces similar to their own. The catcher said that Black former MLB players and coaches were also in attendance at many of the tournaments, providing role models. He cited Reds pitcher Hunter Greene as a big influence.
鈥淚 met most of my best friends at those camps,鈥� Mr. Rose said. 鈥淛ust being able to see people your color playing the game, being able to relate to them, that鈥檚 been important.鈥�
Homer Bush Jr. 鈥� whose dad played in the big leagues for seven seasons for the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Marlins 鈥� said baseball is also doing a better job of being social media savvy. The outfielder just finished his junior season in college at Grand Canyon.
Mr. Bush said it鈥檚 important that baseball portrays itself as a fun sport. Baseball鈥檚 trend of elaborate celebrations for home runs and big hits 鈥� like Pittsburgh鈥檚 swashbuckling routine 鈥� is a good start.
He also said he believes having more Black players in the big leagues should create a snowball effect that brings more young minority players into the game.
鈥淚 could talk about it for hours,鈥� Mr. Bush said. 鈥淏ut I feel like one of the biggest things is just representation. I had a dad who played in the big leagues, so I had someone to look up to and admire. But most guys 鈥� when you click on MLB Network or ESPN 鈥� there鈥檚 not a ton of Black baseball players.鈥�
Of course, there are other variables to getting more minority players to the big leagues 鈥� mainly money and time.
Simply put, developing a big-league ballplayer is usually expensive. There鈥檚 the equipment, the costs of joining a travel team, and the pricey individual instruction that is sometimes needed 鈥� expenses that can easily total thousands of dollars per year. There鈥檚 also the time commitment: weekends completely filled with two and sometimes three games each day.
鈥淲e took a lot of videos of other players for their parents who couldn鈥檛 make it,鈥� said Shaun Rose, Zion鈥檚 dad.
Karin Rose, Zion鈥檚 mom, said she was fortunate that she has a job as a school nurse, which allowed her to travel with Zion during much of the summer baseball season while Shaun worked at his barber shop. Money wasn鈥檛 a huge problem, because both had good jobs and some family members chipped in.
Zion took the additional step of transferring from Brother Rice High School in Chicago to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season, so he could take advantage of the facilities and year-round baseball weather. He鈥檚 ranked by MLB.com as the 144th-best prospect in this year鈥檚 draft, projecting for roughly the fifth round, where the recommended signing bonus is around $400,000.
鈥淲e understood the sacrifice, but it was Zion鈥檚 will to be a great player that put us in this position,鈥� Karin Rose said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been really blessed with travel ball, lots of support from friends and family.鈥�
Several Black former MLB players were in Phoenix to help with the combine, including Chris Young, who played in the big leagues for 13 seasons and was an All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. He said the sport鈥檚 diversity initiatives are a good way to lessen the financial load, but it will never go away completely.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think baseball is going to get any less expensive anytime soon,鈥� Mr. Young said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an expensive game. It was an expensive game even back when I was a kid.鈥�
He also hopes that more Black athletes will choose baseball over football or basketball, sports that have claimed top baseball prospects in the past like Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Another of this year鈥檚 top prospects 鈥� Duce Robinson 鈥� is trying to decide between pro baseball or playing tight end at USC.
鈥淲e have to make it worth their while,鈥� Mr. Young said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e getting guys like that 鈥� I don鈥檛 want to overspeak 鈥� but you鈥檙e getting athletes like Mike Trout. Then it鈥檚 just up to each team鈥檚 player development.鈥�
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Will Graves contributed to this report.
