Colleges With The Most Players On 2021 MLB Opening Day Rosters
Vanderbilt stands heads and shoulders above every school when it comes to producing big leaguers in 2021. And the Southeastern Conference is running away from the rest of the country as well.
There are 11 Commodores on Opening Day active rosters–five hitters (SS Dansby Swanson, 2B Tony Kemp, OF Bryan Reynolds, OF Mike Yastrzemski, C Curt Casali) and six pitchers (LHP Ben Bowden, RHP Jordan Sheffield, LHP Mike Minor, RHP Carson Fulmer, RHP Walker Buehler and LHP David Price).
That’s three more big leaguers on Opening Day rosters than any other school. No other team has more than eight active major leaguers on Opening Day. But what is notable is the predominance of Southeastern Conference teams as far as the teams with the most active big leaguers.
Baseball America looked at active Opening Day rosters, which means we had to wait until nearly a week after Opening Day to ensure we could include the Nationals’ actual Opening Day roster. All players are counted for the school from which they were drafted/signed, so a player who initially was at one school and transferred to another counts only for their final school.
Fellow SEC-power Louisiana State is second with eight active big leaguers. There are another six teams tied for third with seven Opening Day active MLB players. Four of those six schools are from the SEC. In other words, six of the top nine schools in terms of active MLB alumni are SEC schools.
Top 10 Colleges, Active MLB Players On Opening Day Rosters
1. Vanderbilt 11: SS Dansby Swanson, 2B Tony Kemp, OF Bryan Reynolds, OF Mike Yastrzemski, C Curt Casali, LHP Ben Bowden, RHP Jordan Sheffield, LHP Mike Minor, RHP Carson Fulmer, RHP Walker Buehler, LHP David Price.
2. Louisiana State 8: RHP Riley Smith, OF JaCoby Jones, 2B DJ LeMahieu, 3B Alex Bregman, OF Andrew Stevenson, OF Jake Fraley, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Aaron Nola.
3. Florida 7: 2B Jonathan India, RHP Brady Singer, 1B Pete Alonso, RHP Anthony DeSclafani, C Mike Zunino, RHP Dane Dunning, RHP Darren O’Day.
3. Mississippi State 7: OF Hunter Renfroe, 1B Mitch Moreland, RHP Chris Stratton, 2B Adam Frazier, RHP Kendall Graveman, 1B Nate Lowe, RHP Brandon Woodruff.
3. South Carolina 7: RHP Taylor Widener, 1B Christian Walker, C Grayson Greiner, 2B Whit Merrifield, LHP Tyler Webb, LHP Jordan Montgomery, OF Jackie Bradley.
3. Arkansas 7: RHP Trevor Stephan, RHP Ryne Stanek, OF Andrew Benintendi, C James McCann, LHP Drew Smyly, LHP Dallas Keuchel, 3B Brian Anderson.
3. North Carolina 7: RHP Matt Harvey, RHP Daniel Bard, C Jacob Stallings, 3B Colin Moran, 3B Kyle Seager, LHP Andrew Miller, RHP Trent Thornton.
3. Stanford 7: 2B Alex Blandino, RHP Cal Quantrill, C Jason Castro, OF Stephen Piscotty, SS/2B Jed Lowrie, OF Austin Slater, SS Tommy Edman.
9. Kentucky 6: OF Ka’ai Tom, LHP James Paxton, 1B Evan White, RHP Kyle Cody, LHP Taylor Rogers, RHP Zach Pop.
9. Cal State Fullerton 6: C Kurt Suzuki, RHP Chris Devenski, 3B J.D. Davis, 3B Matt Chapman, C Chad Wallach, RHP Dylan Floro.
9. UCLA 6: RHP Griffin Canning, 3B Pat Valaika, RHP Adam Plutko, RHP Trevor Bauer, SS Brandon Crawford, RHP Gerrit Cole.
9. Virginia 6: 1B Pavin Smith, LHP Sean Doolittle, OF Chris Taylor, 1B Ryan Zimmerman, RHP Josh Sborz, OF Adam Haseley.
Here’s the complete list of how many active MLB players were on Opening Day rosters from every four-year school as well as junior colleges. There were two junior colleges with a pair of active big leaguers: Wallace State (Ala.) JC with RHP Craig Kimbrel and LHP Derek Holland and Western Oklahoma State JC which has SS Andrelton Simmons and RHP Casey Sadler.
| Vanderbilt | 11 |
| Louisiana State | 8 |
| Stanford | 7 |
| South Carolina | 7 |
| North Carolina | 7 |
| Mississippi State | 7 |
| Florida | 7 |
| Arkansas | 7 |
| Virginia | 6 |
| UCLA | 6 |
| Kentucky | 6 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 6 |
| Texas Christian | 5 |
| Texas A&M | 5 |
| Texas | 5 |
| Notre Dame | 5 |
| Long Beach State | 5 |
| Rice | 4 |
| Oregon State | 4 |
| Oklahoma | 4 |
| Missouri | 4 |
| Louisville | 4 |
| California | 4 |
| Auburn | 4 |
| Arizona State | 4 |
| Arizona | 4 |
| Wichita State | 3 |
| Washington | 3 |
| Tennessee | 3 |
| Purdue | 3 |
| Oregon | 3 |
| Oral Roberts | 3 |
| North Carolina State | 3 |
| Nevada-Las Vegas | 3 |
| Mississippi | 3 |
| Miami | 3 |
| Kent State | 3 |
| Indiana | 3 |
| Georgia Tech | 3 |
| Florida State | 3 |
| Clemson | 3 |
| Alabama | 3 |
| Wright State | 2 |
| West Virginia | 2 |
| Virginia Tech | 2 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 2 |
| Stetson | 2 |
| Stephen F. Austin State | 2 |
| St. Mary’s | 2 |
| Southeastern Louisiana | 2 |
| South Dakota State | 2 |
| Seattle | 2 |
| San Francisco | 2 |
| San Diego State | 2 |
| Sam Houston State | 2 |
| Old Dominion | 2 |
| Oklahoma Baptist | 2 |
| Northeastern | 2 |
| New Mexico | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2 |
| Millersville (Pa.) | 2 |
| Michigan | 2 |
| Maryland | 2 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Fresno State | 2 |
| Florida International | 2 |
| Florida Gulf Coast | 2 |
| Florida Atlantic | 2 |
| Dartmouth | 2 |
| Creighton | 2 |
| Connecticut | 2 |
| College of Charleston | 2 |
| Central Florida | 2 |
| Campbell | 2 |
| Boston College | 2 |
| Azusa Pacific (Calif.) | 2 |
| Austin Peay State | 2 |
| St. John’s | 2 |
| Akron | 2 |
| Wallace State (Ala.) JC | 2 |
| Western Oklahoma State JC | 2 |
| Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 1 |
| Western Carolina | 1 |
| West Chester (Pa.) | 1 |
| West Alabama | 1 |
| Wayne State (Mich.) | 1 |
| Vanguard (Calif.) | 1 |
| Utah | 1 |
| UNC Wilmington | 1 |
| UC Riverside | 1 |
| UC Irvine | 1 |
| Tulane | 1 |
| Texas Tech | 1 |
| Texas State | 1 |
| Tennessee-Martin | 1 |
| Southern Illinois | 1 |
| Southern California | 1 |
| Southern | 1 |
| Southeast Missouri State | 1 |
| Sonoma State (Calif.) | 1 |
| Slippery Rock (Pa.) | 1 |
| Savannah State | 1 |
| San Diego | 1 |
| Sacramento State | 1 |
| Rider | 1 |
| Princeton | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | 1 |
| Oklahoma State | 1 |
| Oakland | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern | 1 |
| Northwestern | 1 |
| Northern Kentucky | 1 |
| Northeastern State (Okla.) | 1 |
| Mount Olive (N.C.) | 1 |
| Missouri State | 1 |
| Missouri Baptist | 1 |
| Michigan State | 1 |
| Miami (Ohio) | 1 |
| Loyola Marymount | 1 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette | 1 |
| Louisiana Tech | 1 |
| Lipscomb | 1 |
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 1 |
| Lafayette (Pa.) | 1 |
| Kansas State | 1 |
| Kansas | 1 |
| Jacksonville | 1 |
| Ithaca (N.Y.) | 1 |
| Indiana State | 1 |
| Illinois State | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 |
| Houston | 1 |
| Harvard | 1 |
| Hartford | 1 |
| Gonzaga | 1 |
| Georgia Southern | 1 |
| Georgia College & State | 1 |
| Florida Southern | 1 |
| Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | 1 |
| East Carolina | 1 |
| Duke | 1 |
| Delaware | 1 |
| Dayton | 1 |
| Colorado Mesa | 1 |
| Coastal Carolina | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 1 |
| Central Michigan | 1 |
| Central Arkansas | 1 |
| Carson-Newman (Tenn.) | 1 |
| Cal State San Bernardino | 1 |
| Cal State Dominguez Hills | 1 |
| Cal Poly Pomona | 1 |
| Cal Poly | 1 |
| Buffalo | 1 |
| Bryant | 1 |
| Bradley | 1 |
| Bowling Green State | 1 |
| Berry (Ga.) | 1 |
| Belmont Abbey (N.C.) | 1 |
| Belmont | 1 |
| Baylor | 1 |
| Barry (Fla.) | 1 |
| Ball State | 1 |
| Bacone (Okla.) | 1 |
| Appalachian State | 1 |
| Alderson Broaddus (W.Va.) | 1 |
| Alabama-Birmingham | 1 |
| Cabrillo (Calif.) JC | 1 |
| Cloud County (Kan.) JC | 1 |
| Dixie State (Utah) JC | 1 |
| East Central (Miss.) JC | 1 |
| Eastern Oklahoma State JC | 1 |
| Everett (Wash.) JC | 1 |
| Glendale (Calif.) JC | 1 |
| Gulf Coast (Fla.) JC | 1 |
| Gulf Coast State (Fla.) JC | 1 |
| Howard (Texas) JC | 1 |
| JC of Southern Nevada | 1 |
| Lake City (Fla.) JC | 1 |
| Lane (Ore.) JC | 1 |
| Maple Woods (Mo.) JC | 1 |
| McLennan (Texas) JC | 1 |
| Meridian (Miss.) JC | 1 |
| Miami Dade JC | 1 |
| Middle Georgia JC | 1 |
| Neosho County (Kan.) JC | 1 |
| New Mexico JC | 1 |
| Northeastern Oklahoma A&M JC | 1 |
| Northwest Mississippi JC | 1 |
| Parkland (Ill.) JC | 1 |
| Southwest Mississippi JC | 1 |
| St. Clair County (Mich.) JC | 1 |
| St. John’s River (Fla.) JC | 1 |
| Tallahassee (Fla.) JC | 1 |
| Weatherford (Texas) JC | 1 |
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