The APFA became the NFL two years later on June 24, 1922, and expanded to 18 teams. Hell make his big league debut on Tuesday at the ripe old age of 20 years and 113 days. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Nuxhall did not pitch again in the MLB until 1952, at the age of 23. The consensus favorite to lead the majors in wins in 2023, Cole posted a 13-8 record across an MLB-high 33 starts last year. Baseball is a young man's game. Then again, I dont particularly enjoy trying to predict who is going to win the World Series or the Cy Young Award. Following his early debut, Weinert was able to hang on as a lefty hurler for parts of nine seasons with the Phillies, Cubs and a couple appearances with the Yankees. He was called up mainly due to a player shortage because of World War II, but in an age when teenagers were given a shot far more often, he still stood out at 15 years old. From 1952-66, Nuxhall would post a 135-117 record with a 3.88 ERA while also recording 1,372 strikeouts. Age: 14 years, 10 months, 1 day | Adu, supposedly America's great soccer prodigy, became the youngest player to appear in a game and the youngest to score -- during the 2004 season with D.C. United. Once upon a time, teenage ballplayers were counted on as a necessity when vast numbers of Major Leaguers were called into military service during World War II. Michael Vick holds the record since 2000 with a 4.33 time. He made his debut on September 14, 1944 for the Philadelphia Phillies. So Nuxhall's name will probably . Gone are the days of 40-year-old MVPs and late career renaissances that seemed so prevalent in the last two decades of Major League Baseball.There seems to be an influx of yout. He went 2-for-3 in a Cardinals win over the Pirates. The Tiger legend hit .250 with a home run in 30 games for Detroit in 1953, kicking off a Hall of Fame career. Heres a look at the earliest debuts, by age, in franchise history. The 20 Youngest MLB Players to Debut Since World War I0 of 20Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesBaseball is a young man's game. It didn't really predict the 18-8 record he'd have the following year, or the fact that he'd go on to be the home run king for about 50 years. Mauricio, Tena and Tovar are all in Double-A, but none seems all that close to debuting based on their track records and organizational depth charts. Caballero saw his career post a batting average of .228, one home run, and 40 RBI. Within the last three years, weve seen the Blue Jays Elvis Luciano take the field at 19 years, 44 days and the Nationals Juan Soto immediately thrive as a teenager (19 years, 207 days). Volpes sensational breakout in 2021 (.294/.423/.604 at two Class-A levels) seemed to be at least part of the calculus behind New York's preference to avoid committing long-term to any of the top free-agent shortstops in the winter. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to read them first! Putsy Caballero is considered to be the youngest position player to debut in the MLB during the modern era. During Nuxhall's lifetime, it was believed that a 14-year-old named Fred Chapman pitched five innings in one 1887 game. Mel Ott would play 22 seasons, all with the New York Giants, hitting .304, with 511 home runs, 1,860 RBI and 2,876 career hits. He spent time with the Mets and Astros before returning to Tampa Bay in a 2007 trade for Ty Wigginton. Not even Franco did it. Upton: 19 years, 347 daysDebut: Aug. 2, 2004. Vada Pinson, RF: 19 years, 247 days in 1958 (Reds)Pinson hit second ahead of Frank Robinson in an Opening Day loss to the Phillies, which doubled as his MLB debut. But in the 96 games he played that season, he hit .267 with 13 home runs, starting a career that would see him become one of the most beloved Yankees ever with a rookie season that rivals many of those on this list of youngsters. 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 We just need a player born after March 1, 2001. While his talent will never be disputed, addiction curbed much of his success in the subsequent years. And hows this for a first assignment? . Doerr played in just 55 games in 1937, but played in 100 or more in every season from 1938-51 except 1945, when he served in the military. Quite the debut, indeed! Adrian Beltre, 3B: 19 years, 363 days in 1999 (Dodgers)Just days before his 20th birthday, Beltre started his first Opening Day, a Dodgers win over the D-backs. Click FILTER ROWS button to show only those rows in the grid; Quick-Filter: Double-Click on a cell value to filter the grid on rows that have same value in same column. Do you have a sports website? 2. Abel and Harrison are both supremely advanced pitchers. Joe Nuxhall, known as "The Ol' Left-hander," made his Major League debut on June 10, 1944, with the Cincinnati Reds. But in 2009, the Society for American Baseball Research discovered that Chapman's first name and age were both incorrect. Ive broken down the candidates into a few groups: (players within each group listed oldest to youngest; DOB in parentheses). In addition to being the youngest person to ever play for the Yankees, Hanson is also the only person younger than 18 to appear in a game for them . Did he pinch run? Wander Franco, SS, Rays (age 21, DOB: March 1, 2001) Franco is nearly three years younger than the Rays franchise. Hamner was also a three-time NL All-Star. Alex Rodriguez become a free agent as a 25-year-old in the 2000-2001 offseason, and if wasn't for his recent contract extension, Felix Hernandez would have been a free agent next winter at age 25 . Pudge followed in fellow catcher Johnny Bench's footsteps with a teenage debut in 1991, and he was good from the start. Skaugstad pitched several more years in the minor leagues before retiring from the game in 1965. Whether out of a desire for youthful exuberance and energy, or financial concerns with signing more established players, there appears to be a new wave of youngsters taking Major League Baseball by storm. In the process, Caballero emerged as the youngest third baseman to play in the MLB. In this photo, current Los Angeles Dodger Andre Ethier tosses his helmet in a touching tribute to former Brooklyn Dodger Charlie Osgood. One of the greatest hurlers of his era, as well as an all-time legend of the game, Bob Feller was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Erv Palica earned his Major League debut not too long after his seventeenth birthday on April 21, 1945. The Hall of Famer went 1-for-3 with a double batting second in a Mariners loss to the As. One of the most exciting things about the start of the 2022 season is the incredible group of tippy-top prospects who made Opening Day rosters, including Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Spencer Torkelson and Hunter Greene. The 40-man rosters seemed like a good first place to search for our mystery player. Bryce Harper has taken Major League Baseball by storm at the tender age of 19 years old, which got us thinking about the most notable teenage debuts in the history of the game. Dan Wheeler: 21 years, 265 daysDebut: Sept. 1, 1999. And he still wound up with 714. Putsy made a handful of appearances over the final weeks of 1944. Furthermore, he also got to receive a lucrative $50,000 signing bonus. He resumed his professional baseball career upon his return in 1947. Robinson was an All-Star each season from 1960 through 1974 and won 16 Gold Gloves, the most of any position player. Grifol will then turn to Lucas Giolito Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made his debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1944. The trends have changed over time, with younger players like 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall getting more shots early in the last century thanks to a less structured minor league system or wars overseas that drained the talent pool. on Oct. 2, 1974. The Mets were roundly criticized for trading Kazmir, their first-round pick in 2002, to get Victor Zambrano. They say you cant predict baseball, but that doesnt mean its not fun to try. . Conigliaro went on to hit 24 home runs that season, which is still the mark for a teenager in a single season. His long rumored battles with alcohol seemed to get the best of him, as he was sapped of his health and prodigious power. Just to put his age in perspective, consider this: Franco wears a No. He remained involved with the team for years before becoming the Twins' manager. He was 15 years and 316 days old when he made his MLB debut for the Reds. Maybe he caught an inning at the end of the game. The lefty flew through the Minors, joining Tampa Bays Double-A Montgomery affiliate after the 2004 Trade Deadline, then skipping Triple-A to make his debut in a 9-0 win over the Mariners in Seattle. One of the greatest pitchers of all time, Feller didn't even play an inning of minor league ball. Being on a 40-man suggests two very important things about a player: 1) his organization believes he can be a major-leaguer; 2) an additional roster move to clear a spot on the 40-man would not be necessary in the event of any of these players being called up. Suedtiroltranser is a website that writes about many topics of interest to you, a blog that shares knowledge and insights useful to everyone in many fields. So, hindsight being what it is, it's a pretty notable debut in a career that included a .267 batting average, 389 home runs, two world series titles, 14 all-star appearances, and the 1976 World Series MVP award. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. After a handful of mediocre relief appearances, the hard-throwing Feller earned his first start on August 23, hurling a complete game gem, allowing only one run, while striking out 15. And now Franco, MLB PipelinesNo. He was compelled to enlist following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Dodgers C Diego Cartaya (9/7/01)Cubs OF Pete Crow-ArmstrongPadres OF James Wood (9/17/02)Cubs INF James Triantos (1/29/03)Yankees OF Jasson Dominguez (2/7/03). He was originally signed by the Reds out of a semi-pro league that he had been playing in with his father. Many thanks to him. The same goes for these five players, each of whom has the talent to zoom through the minors but is starting at too low a level to imagine it happening quickly enough to beat the other candidates to the big leagues. He went 2-for-3 with a homer in his first game, a 12-9 loss to the White Sox, and hit .317 in his first 30 games. Find out more. Predicting when top 2023 prospects will make their MLB debuts. Eventually known as a center fielder, Upton spent most of his first 45 games in the Majors playing shortstop and third base while mixing in time as the DH and making one start in left field. In 131 big league games, he compiled an 18-33 record with a 4.59 ERA. There's already a Grand Canyon-sized gap between their college production, and their measurables should be miles apart, too, making for . The 20 younger players in the MLB that debut since World War I,0 von 20Christian Petersen/Getty PicturesBaseball is a young man. Yeah, me too. Killebrew's case is rare in that you don't often see players yo-yo between the big leagues and minor leagues as much before settling in as stars. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1951. Expect to see him patrolling the outfield in Anaheim for many years to come. & # x27 ; s name will probably lucrative $ 50,000 signing bonus Mariners loss to the as see patrolling... 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