Black American Players in MLB Have Dropped Again (Under 4%)

It's an exciting time for baseball fans. Opening Day rosters are out! With that, we can start to get an estimate as to where Black American players stand in the game. The unofficial count is approximately 43 Black American players on opening day rosters. That is only 3.6%. That number represents a drop. There are slightly more Black players in the NL (24) than AL (19). Most Black positions players are starters. Eight teams have 0 Black American players on their active opening-day roster. There are two teams with four Black American players, that is the most (Pirates & Nationals). Again, this is an unofficial count of just opening-day rosters. These numbers will change as players come off the IL and minor-leaguers get called to MLB. As you can see, there is a lot to be excited about, but more work is needed to ensure Black American players are represented in MLB.