Each season brings the ascension of players from either the minor or foreign leagues to the majors making their debut. It’s been an upward volume trend over the past six and a half decades. Using baseball reference data as my source I’ve reviewed the lists of each year of play from 1960 to 2024 showing the annual number of players making their debut in the show. I’ve also dug into the numbers for the Phillies during this 65 year time frame on their annual rookie debuts. Here are my findings by decade and year.
From 1960 to 1969 an annual average of 125 players made their big league debuts, 1,251 in total. The Phillies had 57 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 68 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - only 4 of those players were international signings - one became a hall of famer - Ferguson Jenkins. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included Jenkins, newly elected hall of famer Dick Allen, Art Mahaffey, Dallas Green and Rick Wise. Mike Marshall was originally signed by the Phillies but debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1966, he went on to win the NL Cy Young Award in 1974 with the NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
From 1970 to 1979 an annual average of 132 players made their big league debuts, 1,316 in total. The Phillies had 51 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 57 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - just 2 of those players were international signings. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included hall of famer Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, John Vukovich, Bob Boone, Larry Christenson, Dick Ruthven, Dickie Noles, Lonnie Smith and Keith Moreland - all members of the 1980 World Series Championship team. Manny Trillo was also a member of that championship squad - he was originally signed by the Phillies but made his major league debut in 1973 with the Oakland Athletics. Willie Hernandez was also an original Phillies signing - he debuted in the show with the Chicago Cubs and went on to win the AL Cy Young Award and MVP trophy for the World Series Champion Detroit Tigers in 1984.
From 1980 to 1989 an annual average of 146 players made their big league debuts, 1,458 in total. The Phillies had 57 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 78 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - 15 of those players were international signings. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included Juan Samuel, Darren Daulton, Marty Bystrom and hall of famer Ryne Sandberg. George Bell debuted with the Blue Jays in 1981 after being selected from the Phillies system in the Rule 5 draft - he went on to win the American League MVP award in 1987.
From 1990 to 1999 an annual average of 188 players made their big league debuts, 1,879 in total. The Phillies had 66 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 59 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - surprisingly none of those players were Phillies international signings. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included Scott Rosen, Mickey Morandini, Kevin Stocker and Mike Lieberthal.
From 2000 to 2009 an annual average of 208 players made their big league debuts, 2,077 in total. The Phillies had 50 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 57 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - the twelve year streak of no Phillies international signings debuting ended in 2002 - 14 Phillies original international signings debuted in total during the decade largely attributed to Sal Agostinelli who took over the reigns of International Scouting Director in 1997. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Carlos Ruiz, Brett Myers, Pat Burrell and Ryan Madson - all members of the 2008 World Series championship club.
From 2010 to 2019 an annual average of 239 players made their big league debuts, 2,394 in total. The Phillies had 78 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 77 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - 21 of those players were international signings. Notable Phillies rookies during the decade included Aaron Nola, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, Hector Neris, Maikel Franco, Rhys Hoskins, JP Crawford, Ranger Suarez and Seranthony Dominguez.
From 2020 to 2024 an annual average of 259 players made their big league debuts, 1,296 in total including a 65 year high of 303 in 2022. The Phillies had 38 players debut in Phillies jerseys with 32 players that they originally signed (either drafted or as free agents) making their initial appearances in the show - 10 of those players were international signings. Notable Phillies rookies during the half decade included Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott and Matt Vierling.
Over the 65 year period the Phillies have had 428 players that they initially drafted or signed make it to the show - 66 of those were international signings however 45 (68%) of those international signing debuts occurred from 2002 forward with 31 (47%) occurring in the last fifteen seasons.
Just some data to mull.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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