By: Manuel Polanco
As of 2025, only 59 Black players were on a Major League roster. That comes out to 6.2% of the league being represented by black athletes. That wasn’t always the case, as baseball was once full of iconic Black players like Willie Mays, Ricky Henderson, Dwight Gooden, Tony Gwynn, and Barry Bonds, but as the decades went by, black representation in baseball started to decline.
Where once you could turn on your TV and see CC Sabathia and David Price dominate on the mound, now you turn on your TV and the lack of black pitchers is jarring. One pitcher is breaking the mold, however, and that is Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene. Greene was an all-star in 2024, and he ended the year with a 9-5 record and posted 6.2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
In 2025, he was given the opening day nod to be the team’s starter to begin the season. Not only is this a great honor for any starter, but Greene became one of only 40 Black pitchers to start on Opening Day in MLB history. For context, roughly 23,000 people have played at least one major league game.
Greene was the only Black starting pitcher on opening day, and he became the Reds’ youngest opening day starter, at just 25 years old. Coming off his all-star year in 2024, Greene was looking for another elite season in 2025, and although it was riddled with injuries, he had another great year, posting a 2.76 Earned Run Average (ERA), with a 7-4 record, one complete game, and one complete game shutout, and posted a WAR of 4.4.
His opening day opponents were the San Francisco Giants, and Greene’s stat line was 5Innings Pitched, 8Strikeouts, 3 hits, 1Base on Balls, and 2 Earned Runs. Even though the Reds would lose this game, it didn’t discount what a historic and great moment it was for Greene.
“I wish I wasn’t the only one out there going [on Opening Day]. But that’ll take time. Hopefully, we’ll continue to grow the game and keep kids in the game so it won’t just be myself moving forward.” Greene said in response to wanting more Black pitchers in the league.
2025 was not only good for Greene but his team as well, as they made the playoffs and took on the eventual World Series champion, the LA Dodgers, in the wild card round. Greene would take the mound in game one of the Wild Card. Although they lost in the first round, this was a good experience to have, and as the 2026 season looms closer, another great year from Hunter Greene awaits.
In baseball, there exists a prestigious club of Black pitchers called “The Black Aces,” an honor for Black pitchers who have won over 20 games.
14 different Black pitchers have achieved this great honor, and the term was coined by James Grant Jr., AKA Mudcat Grant, an ex-MLB pitcher and a member of The Black Aces. Some notable members are CC Sabathia, David Price, Dontrelle Willis, and Dwight Gooden. The pitchers mentioned here are all World Series champions as well.
In a league that was once segregated, acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of major Black players is important not only because they deserve to be cheered, but also because it can create a gateway for more Black players to join the league.
“To be able to represent the African American community within our sport, which obviously is the lowest percentage that we’ve had, it means a lot,” Greene said. “For kids to be able to turn the game on and be able to see themselves in me, I don’t take that lightly, so it’s awesome.”
Inclusivity matters not only because it’s the right thing to do but because seeing yourself in others, whether it be in sports, comics, TV, or whatever it may be, can make anyone believe they can make it too and strive to make it as well.
Kids who grew up in the 2000s were blessed to see a plethora of black talent in MLB, including Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Cameron, Gary Sheffield, and Barry Bonds. But as the years passed, so did the amount of black talent in baseball, and with 6% of the league being black, continuing to shine a light on the league’s best black players must continue.