The MLB DREAM Series, a collaboration between Major League Baseball and USA Baseball that has taken place over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend since 2017, has served as a major stepping stone for some of the best young talent in the game today.
From established Major League stars like Hunter Greene and Michael Harris II to MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects like Braden Montgomery (No. 35), Harry Ford (No. 42), Justin Crawford (No. 54) and Cam Collier (No. 94), there have been numerous DREAM Series participants who have gone on to play professional baseball.
The annual amateur baseball development experience is designed to help diversify the talent pool of minority pitchers and catchers, and is part of the broader MLB Develops program, which produces similar events throughout the year to provide instruction and mentoring from current and former Major League players, managers and coaches.
Since its inception, the DREAM Series has grown from an idea to a prestigious event from which 15 alums have been selected in the first round of the MLB Draft. How has it become so successful?
Commitment and continuity.
“The consistent commitment from the MLB coaches and players involved, it creates a cycle,” said Chris Young, who along with fellow former All-Star outfielder Cliff Floyd will be hosting MLB Network’s Hot Stove morning show live from the ninth annual DREAM Series on Friday at 10 a.m. ET in Tempe, Ariz.
“And then when you have players who were in the DREAM Series in previous years coming back and passing that knowledge down, it just creates this full circle to where this looks extremely achievable.”
The dream is to reach the Major Leagues. And when determination meets opportunity, you see the type of results produced by the DREAM Series, where players of diverse backgrounds and experiences who might otherwise have had a difficult time being seen can sharpen and showcase their skills in front of big league scouts.
As they watch youngsters strive to reach the heights they did in their own careers, Floyd and Young marvel at the incomparable value these athletes receive through this initiative.
“If you were to grab me in my teenage years and ask me how much access I had to a Major League player, it was zero,” Young said. “This program gives these players access to big league knowledge and big league wisdom and the things we had to learn the long way.”
This year’s instructors include former MLB infielder and manager Jerry Manuel, former All-Star catcher and manager Mike Scioscia, former pitcher and current Twins bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins and former pitcher and Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey -- all of whom will join Floyd and Young on Friday’s show.
And that’s just to name a few. Former big leaguers Marquis Grissom, Brian Hunter, Darren Oliver and many others will be there as well.
Also joining the show will be some DREAM Series alumni, including Montgomery, Nationals middle infielder and 2023 All-Star Futures Game MVP Nasim Nuñez and the fourth overall selection in the 2022 Draft by the Pirates, Termarr Johnson. Angels outfielder Jo Adell, another DREAM Series alum, will also be a special guest.
Among the more than 80 top diverse (predominantly African American) high school pitchers and catchers participating are Rookie Shepard, Anthony Murphy, Dexter McCleon Jr. and Brandon Williams, each of whom will join Floyd and Young to discuss the role the DREAM Series is playing in their development.
“When you mention ‘DREAM Series,’ that’s exactly what it is,” Floyd said. “It’s ‘dream big.’ … I was blown away last year to see all this talent at a very young age, how mature they were and how grateful they were for the opportunity.
“But I also know Jerry Manuel and a lot of the coaches and instructors, so I knew this was not about just showing up for a couple of days and messing around. This was to learn something and bottle it up and take it with you on your journey. And they’ve done a terrific job, year-in and year-out.”
As the ninth installment of the DREAM Series begins Friday, something that has shined through is how the original dream for the event itself is materializing.
After the DREAM Series concludes on Monday, MLB Network will air a new MLB Tonight: A Conversation program highlighting the impact of this series and the continued diversity efforts throughout Major League Baseball at 7 p.m. ET.
“For me, it’s proof of concept,” Young said. “That what the league has put in place to try to create more opportunity and create an event that the top players want to go to is working. For the players, it’s nice to know that even as you’re trying to achieve your dream, that somebody before you was able to achieve that dream.”
“It all starts in Arizona on Friday,” Floyd said. “And I couldn’t be more happy to be a part of it, man. To just sit on our Network and talk about how big this is. This is huge.”