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Opening Day rosters include 223 foreign-born players

Dominican Republic leads way with 82 players, followed by Venezuela with 59

This year's 30 Opening Day 25-man Major League rosters and inactive lists included 223 players born outside the United States, which makes for 26.1 percent of the 853 Major Leaguers counted.

That group hails from 16 countries and territories; the highest combination since 16 countries were also represented at the start of the 2008 season.

Once again, the Dominican Republic leads the way -- as it has since MLB began releasing the annual data in 1995 -- with 82 players. There are 59 players from Venezuela (its fourth-highest total) and 19 from Cuba, which set an all-time high after a record 15 last year.

The other countries represented are Puerto Rico (11), Canada (10), Japan (nine), Mexico (nine), Curacao (five), Colombia (four), Panama (four), Nicaragua (three), Australia (two), South Korea (two), Taiwan (two), Aruba (one) and Brazil (one). Curacao, Colombia and Nicaragua each either matched or surpassed previous highs.

The Rangers have the most foreign-born players (15) on a roster that includes an MLB-record nine countries and territories. The Giants have 13 countries represented, while the White Sox (11), Mariners (11), Cubs (10) and Brewers (10) follow. Eight of the Giants' foreign-born players are Venezuelan, making up the largest total of players from one nation outside the U.S.

Indians catcher Yan Gomes is the first Brazilian-born player to make an Opening Day roster, and Red Sox infielder Xander Bogaerts is the first player from Aruba to do so since Sidney Ponson in 2007.

Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak.