The inaugural summer of The Program, Major League Baseball’s first summer elite development series, recently wrapped up with the Area Code Games in San Diego. The Program is a six-week long development program (from mid June through early August), for which 32 players in the 2025 and 2026 graduation classes were selected from a pool of teenage athletes that had participated in various MLBDevelops Programs, providing them an opportunity to be further exposed to scouts and college coaches.
“The Program really came out of the Kansas City Royals Academy [from the 1970s]. So what we wanted to do is our coaches really wanted to have more time with a smaller group of players,” said Del Matthews, MLB’s vice president of baseball development. “We came up with the idea since we had the Jackie Robinson Complex in Vero Beach to bring in a group of kids for four weeks where they can go through development training, but also have a chance to participate in tournaments and games with really good competition.”
The coaching staff for this program is made up of many former MLB players who have been coaches in different development programs like the DREAM Series, Breakthrough Series and more. Some of The Program coaches include Lou Collier, Jerry Manuel, Carlos Muñoz and Brian Hunter.
During the summer, 32 athletes traveled the country, making several stops along the way. Among them:
• The General Training Development and Breakthrough Series Invitational at the Jackie Robinson Complex in Vero Beach, Fla.
• 16u National Team Championships at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
• Perfect Game National Elite Championships in Hoover, Ala.
• General Training Development, Vero Beach
• PG 16u BCS in East Cobb, Ga.
• Area Code Games at the University of San Diego
Outside of playing in games and learning from former Major Leaguers, these high school athletes were able to develop friendships with their teammates during long bus rides and cultural visits. They made a stop at the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Ala., during their time in Hoover.
Hunter, who played nine years in the Major Leagues from 1991-2000, managed The Program team at the Area Code Games in San Diego. He talked with MLB Network personality Harold Reynolds about what it means to him to have the opportunity to coach the next generation of Black ballplayers.
“I was fortunate enough to get invited to be a coach and it's been like a dream job for me. I don’t even see it as a job,” Hunter said. “It’s like something that I get to mentor and be around young Black players and teach them the things that we learned growing up.”
Not only did this summer program have a positive impact on the coaches, but it made an even stronger one on the athletes. Rookie Shepard, a 2026 catcher and middle infielder, shared the impact that this program had on him.
“Participating in The Program was a huge blessing,” Shepard said. “Playing with these guys -- my teammates, my coaches, being with some of the best players in the country surrounded by the best coaches in the country was definitely an amazing experience.
“My biggest lesson I’m going to take away and bring back home is to just be a great teammate at all times, whether you are 5-for-5 or 0-for-5,” he added. “Being a great teammate and making your team better by doing the little things, big things any way you can to help your team and just bringing that great energy and team-first mindset.”
Another participant in The Program, Alexander Mercurius, a 2025 pitcher and outfielder, talked about how his game has improved this summer.
“My game has evolved more and more with pitches I use -- how to throw those pitches, how to get ahead in the count, how to attack the zone, and a bunch of pitching stuff that I’ve never really put some thought into, but I put thought into it and it helped me get better,” he said.
As MLB continues to grow the opportunities available for the next generation of baseball stars, The Program will be at the forefront. Manuel, a former MLB player and manager and current Youth Development consultant for MLB, who was a part of The Program staff, summed up its impact.
“I think this is one of the highlights of our development series. To have the kids for four weeks has been immensely important. It’s not a showcase type of thing -- it’s a development of how to play the game of baseball,” Manuel said. “They’re young men and they’re going to make mistakes and those types of things, but each and every day we see a little improvement in the man. I think that’s the whole key to the program as well.”
Anna Laible is a teenage reporter for Sports Illustrated Kids and hosts her own podcast called Speak Up Sports.