A total of 254 players represented an all-time record 21 different countries and territories outside of the 50 United States on 2018 Opening Day 25-man rosters and inactive lists, marking another year of unprecedented diversity on Major League rosters, Major League Baseball announced today.
The 254 players born outside the U.S. (29.0 percent) come from a record-high pool of 877 players (750 active 25-man roster players and 127 disabled, suspended, restricted or paternity leave Major League players) on March 29th rosters. Opening Day and inactive list players represented a record-high 21 countries and territories by birthplace. The previous mark of 19 countries and territories represented on Opening Day rosters and inactive lists came in 2017. The 254 foreign-born players are the second-highest total in history, trailing last year's 259, and the percentage of 29.0 is tied with 2007 for the third-highest figure in history, behind only 29.8 in 2017 and 29.2 in 2005.
As it has each year since MLB began releasing this annual data in 1995, the Dominican Republic again leads the Major Leagues with 84 players born outside the United States. Venezuela ranks second with 74 players, while Puerto Rico places third with 19 players, its highest total since there were 20 in 2011. Rounding out the totals are Cuba (17); Mexico (11); Japan (8); Canada (6); South Korea (6); Colombia (5, eclipsing the previous high of four from 2013-2015); Curaçao (5, tied with 2014 for its record high); Australia (3), Brazil (3, eclipsing the previous high of two from 2015-2017); Nicaragua (3); Panama (3), Aruba (1); Germany (1); Lithuania (1); Netherlands (1); South Africa (1); Taiwan (1); and the U.S. Virgin Islands (1). Toronto's Gift Ngoepe, a native of Pietersburg, South Africa, is the first South African-born player, as well as the first born in the continent of Africa, to make an Opening Day roster. Pittsburgh's Dovydas Neverauskas, a native of Vilnius, Lithuania, is the first Lithuanian-born player to appear on an Opening Day roster in Major League history. Both players made their Major League debuts in 2017.
For the second consecutive season, the Texas Rangers have the most foreign-born players with a total of 14 on a roster that spans five different countries and territories outside the U.S. Texas is followed by the Chicago White Sox (13), Miami Marlins (12), Minnesota Twins (11), Philadelphia Phillies (11) and Toronto Blue Jays (11). The Los Angeles Dodgers have players from eight different countries and territories outside the U.S., marking the most in the Majors. They are followed by the Atlanta Braves (7), Marlins (7) and Seattle Mariners (7).
Please see below for the complete list of foreign-born players on 2018 Opening Day rosters and inactive lists:
ARUBA (1)
Bogaerts, Xander, BOS
AUSTRALIA (3)
Hendriks, Liam, OAK
Moylan, Peter, ATL
Saupold, Warwick, DET
BRAZIL (3)
Gohara, Luiz, ATL
Gomes, Yan, CLE
Orlando, Paulo, KC
CANADA (6)
Axford, John, TOR
Martin, Russell, TOR
Paxton, James, SEA
Pivetta, Nick, PHI
Pompey, Dalton, TOR
Votto, Joey, CIN
COLOMBIA (5)
Alfaro, Jorge, PHI
Guerrero, Tayron, MIA
Quintana, José, CHI
Teheran, Julio, ATL
Urshela, Giovany, CLE
CUBA (17)
Abreu, José, CWS
Alonso, Yonder, CLE
Céspedes, Yoenis, NYM
Chapman, Aroldis, NYY
Despaigne, Odrisamer, MIA
Díaz, Aledmys, TOR
Grandal, Yasmani, LAD
Gurriel, Yuli, HOU
Hechavarria, Adeiny, TB
Heredia, Guillermo, SEA
Iglesias, José, DET
Iglesias, Raisel, CIN
Martin, Leonys, DET
Moncada, Yoán, CWS
Morales, Kendrys, TOR
Puig, Yasiel, LAD
Soler, Jorge, KC
 
CURAÇAO (5)
Albies, Ozzie, ATL
Jansen, Kenley, LAD
Profar, Jurickson, TEX
Schoop, Jonathan, BAL
Simmons, Andrelton, LAA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (84)
Álvarez, Pedro, BAL
Araujo, Pedro, BAL
Báez, Pedro, LAD
Beltré, Adrián, TEX
Benoit, Joaquin, WSH
Bonifacio, Jorge, KC
Canó, Robinson, SEA
Casilla, Santiago, OAK
Castillo, Luis, CIN
Castillo, Welington, CWS
Castro, Miguel, BAL
Castro, Starlin, MIA
Colomé, Alex, TB
Cordero, Franchy, SD
Cruz, Nelson, SEA
Cueto, Johnny, SF
Devers, Rafael, BOS
Difo, Wilmer, WSH
Encarnacion, Edwin, CLE
Estévez, Carlos, COL
Familia, Jeurys, NYM
Feliz, Michael, PIT
Fernández, Julian, SF
Florimón, Pedro, PHI
Franco, Maikel, PHI
García, Jarlin, MIA
García, Leury, CWS
García, Luis, PHI
García, Yimi, LAD
Gomez, Carlos, TB
Gómez, Roberto, SF
González, Erik, CLE
Gustave, Jandel, HOU
Hernandez, Marco, BOS
Herrera, Kelvin, KC
Lagares, Juan, NYM
Lamet, Dinelson, SD
Leclerc, José, TEX
Liriano, Francisco, DET
López, Reynaldo, CWS
Margot, Manuel, SD
Marte, Jefry, LAA
Marte, Ketel, ARI
Marte, Starling, PIT
Martínez, Carlos, STL
Mazara, Nomar, TEX
Minaya, Juan, CWS
Montero, Rafael, NYM
Moronta, Reyes, SF
Muñoz, Yairo, STL
Neris, Héctor, PHI
Nicasio, Juan, SEA
Nova, Ivan, PIT
Núñez, Eduardo, BOS
Ozuna, Marcell, STL
Peña, Francisco, STL
Peralta, Wandy, CIN
Perdomo, Luis, SD
Pineda, Michael, MIN
Polanco, Gregory, PIT
Polanco, Jorge, MIN
Pujols, Albert, LAA
Ramirez, Hanley, BOS
Ramírez, José, ATL
Ramírez, José, CLE
Reed, Raudy, WSH
Reyes, José, NYM
Rodney, Fernando, MIN
Romero, Enny, WSH
Rosario, Amed, NYM
Salazar, Danny, CLE
Sánchez, Gary, NYY
Sanó, Miguel, MIN
Santana, Carlos, PHI
Santana, Domingo, MIL
Santana, Edgar, PIT
Santana, Ervin, MIN
Segura, Jean, SEA
Severino, Luis, NYY
Strop, Pedro, CHI
Ureña, José, MIA
Villar, Jonathan, MIL
Vizcaíno, Arodys, ATL
Ynoa, Gabriel, BAL
 
GERMANY (1)
Kepler, Max, MIN
 
JAPAN (8)
Darvish, Yu, CHI
Hirano, Yoshihisa, ARI
Maeda, Kenta, LAD
Makita, Kazuhisa, SD
Ohtani, Shohei, LAA
Suzuki, Ichiro, SEA
Tanaka, Masahiro, NYY
Tazawa, Junichi, MIA
 
LITHUANIA (1)
Neverauskas, Dovydas, PIT
MEXICO (11)
Arano, Víctor, PHI
De La Rosa, Jorge, ARI
Estrada, Marco, TOR
García, Jaime, TOR
González, Miguel, CWS
Osuna, Roberto, TOR
Salas, Fernando, ARI
Soria, Joakim, CWS
Urías, Julio, LAD
Velázquez, Hector, BOS
Villanueva, Christian, SD
 
NETHERLANDS (1)
Gregorius, Didi, NYY
 
NICARAGUA (3)
Cuthbert, Cheslor, KC
Ramírez, Erasmo, SEA
Ramírez, JC, LAA
PANAMA (3)
Camargo, Johan, ATL
Córdoba, Allen, SD
Delgado, Randall, ARI
 
PUERTO RICO (19)
Báez, Javier, CHI
Berríos, José, MIN
Caratini, Victor, CHI
Centeno, Juan, TEX
Claudio, Alex, TEX
Correa, Carlos, HOU
De León, José, TB
Díaz, Edwin, SEA
González, Rayan, COL
Hernández, Kiké, LAD
Jiménez, Joe, DET
Lindor, Francisco, CLE
Maldonado, Martín, LAA
Molina, Yadier, STL
Pérez, Roberto, CLE
Rivera, René, LAA
Rivera, Yadiel, MIA
Rosario, Eddie, MIN
Vázquez, Christian, BOS
SOUTH AFRICA (1)
Ngoepe, Gift, TOR
 
SOUTH KOREA (6)
Choi, Ji-Man, MIL
Choo, Shin-Soo, TEX
Kang, Jung Ho, PIT
Oh, Seung-Hwan, TOR
Refsnyder, Rob, TB
Ryu, Hyun-Jin, LAD
TAIWAN (1)
Chen, Wei-Yin, MIA
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS (1)
Cotton, Jharel, OAK
 
VENEZUELA (74)
Adrianza, Ehire, MIN
Aguilar, Jesús, MIL
Altuve, Jose, HOU
Alvarado, José, TB
Álvarez, José, LAA
Andrus, Elvis, TEX
Arcia, Orlando, MIL
Asuaje, Carlos, SD
Avilán, Luis, CWS
Blanco, Gregor, SF
Cabrera, Asdrúbal, NYM
Cabrera, Miguel, DET
Carrasco, Carlos, CLE
Cervelli, Francisco, PIT
Chacín, Jhoulys, MIL
Chirinos, Robinson, TEX
Chirinos, Yonny, TB
Contreras, Willson, CHI
Díaz, Elias, PIT
Escobar, Alcides, KC
Escobar, Eduardo, MIN
Flores, Wilmer, NYM
Font, Wilmer, LAD
Galvis, Freddy, SD
García, Avisaíl, CWS
González, Carlos, COL
Gonzalez, Marwin, HOU
Hernández, César, PHI
Hernandez, Elieser, MIA
Hernández, Félix, SEA
Hernández, Gorkys, SF
Herrera, Odúbel, PHI
Herrera, Ronald, TEX
Inciarte, Ender, ATL
Infante, Gregory, CWS
Leon, Sandy, BOS
Machado, Dixon, DET
Márquez, German, COL
Martínez, José, STL
Martinez, Victor, DET
Montero, Miguel, WSH
Moya, Gabriel, MIN
Narváez, Omar, CWS
Núñez, Renato, OAK
Odor, Rougned, TEX
Parra, Gerardo, COL
Peralta, David, ARI
Peraza, José, CIN
Pérez, Hernán, MIL
Pérez, Martin, TEX
Perez, Salvador, KC
Petit, Yusmeiro, OAK
Piña, Manny, MIL
Pirela, Jose, SD
Prado, Martín, MIA
Ramos, Edubray, PHI
Ramos, Wilson, TB
Reyes, Victor, DET
Rivero, Felipe, PIT
Rodriguez, Eduardo, BOS
Rodríguez, Ricardo, TEX
Rojas, Miguel, MIA
Rondón, Héctor, HOU
Sánchez, Yolmer, CWS
Sandoval, Pablo, SF
Santander, Anthony, BAL
Senzatela, Antonio, COL
Solarte, Yangervis, TOR
Suárez, Eugenio, CIN
Sucre, Jesús, TB
Telis, Tomás, MIA
Tocci, Carlos, TEX
Torreyes, Ronald, NYY
Valbuena, Luis, LAA