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.S. with 93, down from 100 last year and 110 in 2020.
Coming off its first World Baseball Classic title, Venezuela was next with 60, down by three from last year.
Cuba’s 20 were down from a record 26 last year. Canada had 17, matching its most since 2013.
Puerto Rico had 14, followed by Mexico (seven), Curaçao (four), Panama (four), Colombia and South Korea (three each), and Aruba, the Bahamas, Honduras, Nicaragua and Taiwan (one each).
Atlanta and San Diego tied for the most among teams with 15 each, with the Braves’ roster including players from eight nations and territories. Houston, which had held a share of the lead for five straight years, had 15 and was followed by Arizona and Miami (13 each), Seattle (12) and Boston, the Dodgers, New York Mets and San Francisco (11 each).
Totals included 780 active players, 162 on the IL and six on the restricted list.
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