Arizona State, Long Beach State Lead In Active MLB Players
Arizona State and Long Beach State share the 2017 crown for having the most alumni on Opening Day rosters.
Led by Dustin Pedroia, Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis, the Sun Devils have 10 players on Opening Day rosters (and the current major league disabled list). The Dirtbags also have 10 Opening Day big leaguers (including Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki and Bryan Shaw).
Lousiana State has nine Opening Day alums, including Alex Bregman, Aaron Nola and Kevin Gausman. Arkansas is in fourth with eight (most notably, Andrew Benintendi and Dallas Keuchel). Four teams have seven alums: Alabama (David Robertson and Jimmy Nelson), Cal State Fullerton (Michael Lorenzen and Khris Davis), Mississippi State (Hunter Renfroe and Zack Cosart) and Virginia (Ryan Zimmerman and Sean Doolittle).
Chipola (Fla.) JC leads all junior colleges with five players who went straight from Chipola to pro ball, including Russell Martin and Jose Bautista.
This list credits players for their final college before they went to pro ball. Kipnis counts for Arizona State, but not for Kentucky, where he began his college career. Similarly, junior college players who went to a four-year college after their stint at a JUCO count only for their final four-year college.
The complete list of every college with two or more alums on Opening Day rosters follows.
| Most alumni on MLB rosters | |
| Arizona State 10 | Michigan 3 |
| Long Beach State 10 | Nevada 3 |
| Louisiana State 9 | Northwestern 3 |
| Arkansas 8 | South Alabama 3 |
| Alabama 7 | Texas State 3 |
| Cal State Fullerton 7 | UC Davis 3 |
| Mississippi State 7 | UC Riverside 3 |
| Virginia 7 | Auburn 2 |
| Miami 6 | Austin Peay 2 |
| Texas 6 | Azuza Pacific (Calif.) 2 |
| Texas A&M 6 | Brigham Young 2 |
| Arizona 5 | Central Florida 2 |
| Chipola (Fla.) JC 5 | College of Charleston 2 |
| Florida State 5 | Dallas Baptist 2 |
| Fresno State 5 | East Carolina 2 |
| Mississippi 5 | Florida Gulf Coast 2 |
| Nebraska 5 | Georgia 2 |
| North Carolina 5 | Gulf Coast (Fla.) CC 2 |
| Oregon State 5 | Kent State 2 |
| San Diego 5 | Louisiana-Lafayette 2 |
| Southern California 5 | Louisville 2 |
| Texas Tech 5 | Maple Woods (Mo.) CC 2 |
| UCLA 5 | Miami Dade JC 2 |
| Vanderbilt 5 | Mount Olive (N.C.) 2 |
| Connecticut 4 | N.C. State 2 |
| Georgia Tech 4 | Nova Southeastern (Fla.) 2 |
| Indiana 4 | Old Dominion 2 |
| Kentucky 4 | Oral Roberts 2 |
| Missouri 4 | Oregon 2 |
| Notre Dame 4 | Palm Beach (Fla.) CC 2 |
| Oklahoma 4 | Pepperdine 2 |
| Oklahoma State 4 | Princeton 2 |
| Rice 4 | Riverside (Calif.) CC 2 |
| South Carolina 4 | Rutgers 2 |
| Stanford 4 | San Diego State 2 |
| Texas Christian 4 | Santa Fe (Fla.) CC 2 |
| Cal Poly 3 | Stetson 2 |
| Clemson 3 | Stony Brook 2 |
| Coastal Carolina 3 | Tallahassee (Fla.) CC 2 |
| Dayton 3 | Tennessee 2 |
| Florida 3 | Wallace State (Ala.) CC 2 |
| Hawaii 3 | Wichita State 2 |
| JC of Southern Nevada 3 | |
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