Almost any reader with a teenage son will tell you the same thing: He spends too much time staring at his cell phone; not enough time getting out and playing ball. This is one of the after-effects in the United States of having a generation of teenagers who spent a year and a half locked in their bedrooms during the pandemic.

They were told that online school was an adequate replacement for the real thing, and they were robbed of the chance to make the type of lifelong friendships that come from being around their peers at an age when they would typically be making lifelong friends.

Some are starting to call them Generation COVID, and those who work in academics can attest that this particular generation is posing problems like they have never seen before.

This was one of the side effects of the national response to COVID-19, and it’ll be another generation before we know how much lasting damage these policies caused. One thing is certain: This generation of American teenagers did not get a chance to be with baseball coaches in 2020 and 2021.

Some thrived anyway, and we will be seeing them make their major league debuts in the next couple of years. Others languished, and those will be the ones watching baseball in the years ahead if they take an interest in the sport under commissioner Rob Manfred’s new speed-up-the-game rules.

Who is the youngest player in the 2023 MLB season?

Miami Marlins pitcher Eury Perez, from Santiago, Dominican Republic, made his major league debut on May 12. Just 27 days earlier, he was still a teenager. He became the youngest pitcher in the club’s history, supplanting José Fernández, who made his 2013 debut at 20 years and 250 days old. 

Just as Jordan Walker was the first and only MLB player to have been born in 2002, Pérez became the first and only big leaguer born in 2003. The 6-foot-8 pitcher struck out seven batters and allowed two runs over 4⅔ innings in Miami's 7-4 loss to the Reds.    

Pérez became the youngest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game since former Toronto Blue Jays righty Elvis Luciano made his debut at 19 years old in 2019 and became the first player in MLB history born in the 2000s.

Related: The oldest major-leaguer in 2023 belongs to a left-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Rich Hill. Check who are the 10 Oldest MLB players ever. 

Who was the youngest MLB player ever?

Joe Nuxhall pitched in 526 games over his 16-year career. When he made his first appearance in 1944, he was 15 years and 316 days old. He remains the youngest player ever to appear in an American League or National League game in Major League Baseball.

Nuxhall joined the Cincinnati Reds during a player shortage caused by the demands of World War II. He signed a deal for $175 a month, plus a $500 signing bonus. He was in uniform on April 19 for Opening Day after receiving permission from his principal to miss school. His debut came nearly two months later on June 10, when he was called on to pitch the ninth inning with the Reds trailing 13-0. More on that below.

Ranking the 10 Youngest Players in MLB History

  1. Granny Hamner

Age of Debut: 17 years, 4 months, 18 days
Date of Debut: Sept. 14, 1944
Positions: Shortstop, Second base
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Years Active in MLB: 1944 to 1959, 1962

A native of Richmond, Va., "Granny" spent 15-plus years with the Phillies, having come to the club as a 17-year-old during World War II. In 1945, still only 17, he became the youngest player ever to start an Opening Day game. By the Phillies' 1950 NL pennant season, he was one of the team leaders, and at age 23 was named team captain. He was an All-Star in 1952, 1953, and 1954 and is a member of the Phillies’ Wall of Fame.

  1. Erv Palica

Age of Debut: 17 years, 2 months, 12 days
Date of Debut: April 21, 1945
Position: Pitcher
Team: Brooklyn Dodgers
Years Active in MLB: 1945, 1947 to 1951, 1953 to 1956

Erv Palica, a native of Lomita, Calif., made his debut as a pinch runner for the Dodgers, although his major league career was interrupted when he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. His best season came in 1950 when he went 13-8. He had a mostly undistinguished career for Brooklyn and Baltimore before playing pro baseball in the minors from 1957 to 1963.

  1. Mel Ott

Age of Debut: 17 years, 1 month, 25 days
Date of Debut: April 27, 1926
Position: Right field
Team: New York Giants
Years Active in MLB: 1926 to 1947

The native of Gretna, La., was playing semi-pro ball at age 14 and making money doing so, as teammates passed a hat around and took donations for any player who hit a home run. Mel Ott would eventually stroke 511 homers for the Giants -- the only major league team he ever played for -- in a Hall of Fame career in which he was a 12-time All-Star and six-time NL home run leader.

  1. Alex George

Age of Debut: 16 years, 11 months, 19 days
Date of Debut: Sept. 16, 1955
Position: Shortstop
Team: Kansas City Athletics
Years Active in MLB: 1955

Alex George, a Kansas City, Mo., native, played every single one of his major league games before he turned 17. He appeared in five games and had 10 at-bats, seven of them ending with strikeouts. His only hit was a bunt single. He played in the Kansas City farm system from 1956 to 1963 before retiring from professional baseball.

  1. Roger McKee

Age of Debut: 16 years, 11 months, 2 days
Date of Debut: Aug. 18, 1943
Position: Pitcher
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Years Active in MLB: 1943 to 1944

Roger McKee, a native of Shelby, N.C., was the youngest player to appear in the majors in 1943, a year when many ballplayers were serving in the U.S. military during World War II. McKee’s major league career was over before he turned 18. He had complete-game victories in the final games of the 1943 and 1944 seasons before spending his final nine years as a ballplayer in the minors.

  1. Putsy Caballero

Age of Debut: 16 years, 10 months, 9 days
Date of Debut: Sept. 14, 1944
Position: Third base
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Years Active in MLB: 1944 to 1945, 1947 to 1952

Putsy Caballero, a New Orleans native, was signed straight out of high school during World War II and became one of the steadiest reserve members of the Phillies “Whiz Kids” era. He became an exterminator after his career ended and lost everything during Hurricane Katrina, including memorabilia signed by Babe Ruth, Eddie Mathews, and Pete Rose.

  1. Jim Derrington

Age of Debut: 16 years, 10 months, 1 day
Date of Debut: Sept. 30, 1956
Position: Pitcher
Team: Chicago White Sox
Years Active in MLB: 1956 to 1957

Straight out of Compton, Calif., Jim Derrington was playing semi-pro ball at age 13 and made his MLB debut in the final game of the 1956 season after receiving a reported $50,000 signing bonus, quite large for the time. He tore elbow ligaments while playing for the minor league San Diego Padres in 1960. He then became a position player before moving on to work in his father’s appliance store and managing college baseball and independent league teams.

  1. Carl Scheib

Age of Debut: 16 years, 8 months, 5 days
Date of Debut: Sept. 6, 1943
Position: Pitcher
Team: Philadelphia Athletics
Years Active in MLB: 1943 to 1945, 1947 to 1954

A native of Gratz, Pa., Carl Scheib was one of the best-hitting pitchers of his time, compiling a .392 average in 1951. When Scheib made his first appearance in 1943 at age 16, he was the youngest player to play in the modern era until Nuxhall debuted with the Cincinnati Reds the following season. He remains the youngest American League player ever.

  1. Tommy Brown

Age of Debut: 16 years, 7 months, 28 days
Date of Debut: Aug. 3, 1944
Position: Shortstop
Team: Brooklyn Dodgers
Years Active in MLB: 1944 to 1945, 1947 to 1953

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native became the youngest non-pitcher to ever play in a major league game when he made his debut at shortstop for his hometown Dodgers.  He became the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the major leagues at age 17 on Aug. 20, 1945, and he logged 103 career games before he turned 18. He appeared in a total of 494 games as a major leaguer before spending the final seven seasons of his pro career in the minors.

  1. Joe Nuxhall

Age of Debut: 15 years, 10 months, 11 days
Date of Debut: June 10, 1944
Position: Pitcher
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Years Active in MLB: 1944, 1952 to 1966

Joe Nuxhall, a native of Hamilton, Ohio, was signed when scouts looking to fill out the Cincinnati Reds' depleted roster were considering Orville Nuxhall, Joe's father, in 1943. However, they were informed that the elder Nuxhall was not interested in signing a professional contract because of his five children. The scouts then became interested in Joe, who was only 14 at the time. After waiting until the following year's basketball season was over, Joe Nuxhall signed a major league contract with the Reds on Feb. 18, 1944. He yielded five walks, two hits and five runs in his debut -- mop-up duty in a game he entered with Cincinnati trailing 13-0. He spent the remainder of that season in the minors.

Related: Shortstop Matt McLain is the latest top Reds rookie, but certainly not the first. Here are the Top 10 rookie seasons in Cincinnati Reds history.

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