What Draftees Were the Fastest of All-Time To Reach the Majors?

Image credit: Bob Horner was one of the fastest to the majors draftees of all time.

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Whether Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel makes his MLB debut tonight or later this weekend, he is assured of being one of the fastest risers to the majors in MLB draft history.

While there have been 27 pitchers over the years who have made their MLB debut less than 100 days after they were drafted, there have been only 17 position players who have done the same. Schanuel’s 40 days (if he debuts on Aug. 18) is the fifth fastest for a position player in the draft era.

Here’s a look at the 25 fastest arrivals for a drafted position player since the draft began in 1965. The time is measured from the exact day they were drafted until their MLB debut date.

Rk	Player	Pos.	Team	Draft Year	Days To Debut	MLB Debut
1	Dave Roberts	3B	San Diego Padres	1972	1	6/7/1972
2	Bob Horner	3B	Atlanta Braves	1978	10	6/16/1978
3	Dave Winfield	OF	San Diego Padres	1973	14	6/19/1973
4	Brian Milner	C	Toronto Blue Jays	1978	17	6/23/1978
5	Nolan Schanuel	1B	Los Angeles Angels	2023	40	8/18/2023
6	Rick Cerone	C	Cleveland Guardians	1975	75	8/17/1975
7	Ryan Zimmerman	3B	Washington Nationals	2005	86	9/1/2005
8	Bill Almon	SS	San Diego Padres	1974	89	9/2/1974
9	Bo Jackson	OF	Kansas City Royals	1986	92	9/2/1986
10	Danny Goodwin	C	Los Angeles Angels	1975	92	9/3/1975
11	John Olerud	1B	Toronto Blue Jays	1989	93	9/3/1989
12	Conor Gillaspie	3B	San Francisco Giants	2008	96	9/9/2008
13	J.D. Drew	OF	St. Louis Cardinals	1998	98	9/8/1998
14	Scott Meyer	C	Oakland Athletics	1978	96	9/10/1978
15	Brian Greer	OF	San Diego Padres	1977	98	9/13/1977
16	Rickie Weeks	2B	Milwaukee Brewers	2003	104	9/15/2003
17	Xavier Nady	3B	San Diego Padres	2000	114	9/30/2000
18	Zach Neto	SS	Los Angeles Angels	2022	273	4/15/2023
19	Robin Yount	SS	Milwaukee Brewers	1973	304	4/5/1974
20	Lee Richard	SS	Chicago White Sox	1970	307	4/7/1971
21	Paul Molitor	SS	Milwaukee Brewers	1977	304	4/7/1978
22	Ozzie Smith	SS	San Diego Padres	1977	304	4/7/1978
23	Pete Incaviglia	3B	Washington Nationals	1985	311	4/8/1986
24	Will Clark	1B	San Francisco Giants	1985	309	4/8/1986
25	Matt Williams	3B	San Francisco Giants	1986	313	4/11/1987

And here’s a look at the 25 pitchers who were fastest to the majors from their exact draft date to MLB debut.

Rk.	Player	Pos.	Draft Year	Team	Days To MLB Debut	MLB Debut Date
1	Mike Morgan	RHP	1978	Oakland Athletics	5	6/11/1978
2	Steve Dunning	RHP	1970	Cleveland Guardians	10	6/14/1970
3	Tim Conroy	LHP	1978	Oakland Athletics	17	6/23/1978
4	Scott Erickson	RHP	1990	Texas Rangers	21	6/25/1990
5	David Clyde	LHP	1973	Texas Rangers	22	6/27/1973
6	Eddie Bane	LHP	1973	Minnesota Twins	29	7/4/1973
7	Ariel Prieto	RHP	1995	Oakland Athletics	31	7/2/1995
8	Rich Bordi	RHP	1980	Oakland Athletics	43	7/16/1980
9	Ryan Wagner	RHP	2003	Cincinnati Reds	46	7/19/2003
10	Mike Loynd	RHP	1986	Texas Rangers	52	7/24/1986
11	Alex Fernandez	RHP	1990	Chicago White Sox	59	8/2/1990
12	Britt Burns	LHP	1978	Chicago White Sox	60	8/5/1978
13	Chris Sale	LHP	2010	Chicago White Sox	60	8/6/2010
14	Jack Kucek	RHP	1974	Chicago White Sox	64	8/8/1974
15	Lance Dickson	LHP	1990	Chicago Cubs	66	8/9/1990
16	Joey Devine	RHP	2005	Atlanta Braves	74	8/20/2005
17	Greg Swindell	LHP	1986	Cleveland Guardians	80	8/21/1986
18	Andrew Miller	LHP	2006	Detroit Tigers	85	8/30/2006
19	Ken Holtzman	LHP	1965	Chicago Cubs	88	9/4/1965
20	Chad Cordero	RHP	2003	Washington Nationals	88	8/30/2003
21	Chris Knapp	RHP	1975	Chicago White Sox	93	9/4/1975
22	Gregg Olson	RHP	1988	Baltimore Orioles	93	9/2/1988
23	Brandon Finnegan	LHP	2014	Kansas City Royals	93	9/6/2014
24	Ben McDonald	RHP	1989	Baltimore Orioles	96	9/6/1989
25	Paco Rodriguez	LHP	2012	Los Angeles Dodgers	97	9/9/2012

If you wanted to see the other end of the spectrum, righthander Brandon Mann was a 2002 draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After a long career in Japan, independent leagues and the minor leagues, he made his MLB debut on May 13, 2018. That was nearly 16 years, but more precisely 5,822 days after he was drafted.

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