Foreign-born players in Major League Baseball drops to lowest percentage since 2002
NEW YORK (AP) — The percentage of players born outside the 50 states in Major League Baseball dropped to its lowest level since 2002 while Japan's 14 were its most since 2010. There were 247 players from 16 nations and territories outside of the 50 states among 948 players on opening day active rosters and injured and restricted lists, the commissioner’s office said Thursday. The 26.
1% was down from 27. 8% last year and the lowest since 26. 1% in 2002.
The high of 29. 8% was in 2017. This year's total represents a drop of 23 players from 2023, when 270 set the high for a season with 26-man active rosters.
There were players from 18 nations and territories outside the U. S. in both 2024 and '25, down from a high of 21 in 2018.
Tatsuya Imai, Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto joined stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to increase Japan's total from 12 last year. Japan's high was 16 in 2008. The Dominican Republic led countries outside the U.