Greatest Teenagers in MLB History

A teenager getting to the Show is always special. But sometimes it’s legendary when someone so young sustains the same success as established veterans.

The average age of a Major League Baseball player falls between 28 and 29 years old, so when an actual kid cracks the game’s highest level — while he still has physical and mental maturing to do — your jaw might drop.

At 15 years and 316 days, Joe Nuxhall was the youngest ever to debut in the majors. Though it was remarkable, he got torched in his lone teenage appearance and didn’t set foot on a big league field for another eight years. Mike Trout and Alex Rodriguez also debuted as teenagers, yet didn’t find real, sustainable success until their 20s.

Other youngsters had better opening acts. These are the best teenage performances in MLB history, based on the age when players reached the majors.

Note: Stats are updated through June 20, 2019.

Team: 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers

Position: Pitcher

Born: Aug. 12, 1996, in Culiacan, Mexico

School: N/A

MLB career: 4 years, all with Dodgers (2016–present)

Career stats: 148.2 IP, 8 wins, 6 losses, 3.45 ERA, 1.6 WAR

Stats as teen: 77 IP, 5 wins, 2 losses, 3.39 ERA, 1.1 WAR

Bottom line: Less than two years after becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the Futures Game, Julio Urias debuted in the big leagues on May 27, 2016, becoming the first teenager to start a major league game since Felix Hernandez in 2005.

Urias impressed with a 9.8 K/9 and surrendered just five home runs in 77 innings pitched over 18 appearances (15 starts). He earned the win in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, shutting down the Washington Nationals with two scoreless innings of relief.

Team: 1951 New York Yankees

Position: Outfield

Born: Oct. 20, 1931, in Spavinaw, Oklahoma

School: Commerce High School (Okla.)

MLB career: 18 years, all with Yankees (1951–68)

Career stats: 2,401 games, .298 AVG, 536 HR, 1,509 RBI, 110.3 WAR

Stats as teen: 96 games, .267 AVG, 13 HR, 65 RBI, 1.5 WAR

Bottom line: After an impressive spring training in 1951, Mickey Mantle made the big club as its right fielder. There was no denying the young switch-hitter’s raw talent, but a streaky first half of the season sent “The Mick” back to the minors to work out his kinks.

Mantle returned in late August with a vengeance, mashing .284/.370/.495 to help the Yankees to the American League pennant. However, in Game 2 of the World Series, Mantle tripped over a drainpipe while running after a Willie Mays fly ball, tearing his ACL.

He never fully recovered from the injury, yet still went on to become a three-time MVP and Hall of Famer.

Team: 1935–36 Washington Senators

Position: Third base

Born: Aug. 10, 1916, in Gaston County, North Carolina

School: Lowell High School (N.C.), Wake Forest University

MLB career: 11 years, all with Senators (1935–41, 1945–49)

Stats: 1,349 games, .297 AVG, 71 HR, 607 RBI, 26.7 WAR

Stats as teen: 151 games, .283 AVG, 6 HR, 69 RBI, 1.6 WAR

Bottom line: Buddy Lewis posted an abysmal 3-for-28 line when he debuted with Washington at the tail end of the 1935 season, but proved resilient the following spring.

Batting over .450 in preseason games, Lewis broke camp as the Senators’ starting third baseman in 1936. The 19-year-old lefty hitter finished April batting a solid .291 and established himself as one of the American League’s top rookies in May, hitting .402 with a .996 OPS across 27 games.

Lewis did come back to earth, however, finishing the season with a .291 average and 100 runs scored.

Team: 2012 Baltimore Orioles

Position: Third base

Born: July 6, 1992, in Hialeah, Florida

School: Brito Miami Private School

MLB career: 8 years (2012–present)

Teams: Orioles (2012–18), San Diego Padres (2019)

Career stats: 999 games, .281 AVG, 189 HR, 555 RBI, 35.7 WAR

Stats as teen: 51 games, .262 AVG, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 1.6 WAR

Bottom line: Although Manny Machado was 20 years old when he made his major league debut, he still qualifies as a teenager since he was 19 as of June 30, 2012.

While Machado’s overall offensive numbers were rather pedestrian, he crushed a pair of home runs in his second big league game, becoming the youngest player in Orioles history with a multi-homer game.

Most of Machado’s immediate hype came on defense, as his work at the hot corner quickly became standard on the MLB highlight reels, despite having spent all but two games in the minors at shortstop.