Most Homegrown Players On Division Series Rosters

The Rockies were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday. The good news is they have a strong indicator of future success.

The Rockies had 14 homegrown players on their Division Series roster this year, the most of any team. The Astros and Dodgers are tied for second-most with 11.

Colorado’s homegrown crop included three-fourths of its playoff rotation in Kyle Freeland, Tyler Anderson and Antonio Senzatela; the left side of its infield with Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story; two-thirds of its primary outfield in Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl; and Chad Bettis, Scott Oberg and Harrison Musgrave out of the bullpen. The other homegrown players on the Rockies’ NLDS roster were rookie reserves Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson and veterans Chris Iannetta and Matt Holliday, who were drafted and developed by the Rockies and returned to Colorado this season after playing for other organizations.

The Rockies could have had another homegrown player, but left starter Jon Gray off their Division Series roster.

While the Rockies were fairly balanced between homegrown pitchers (six) and position players (eight), the runner-up Astros and Dodgers leaned heavily one way or the other.

Seven of the 11 Dodgers homegrown players are pitchers: Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson and foreign professional signees Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu. The only homegrown position players on their NLDS roster are Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Matt Kemp and fellow foreign professional signee Yasiel Puig.

Eight of the 11 Astros homegrown players, meanwhile, are position players: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, George Springer, Tyler White, Tony Kemp, Myles Straw and foreign professional signee Yuli Gurriel. Their three homegrown pitchers are Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Josh James.

The Yankees are the only other team with double-digit homegrown players on their Division Series roster with 10. The Brewers had the fewest with six.

The Orioles and Cubs each have eight homegrown players on Division Series rosters, tied for most among teams not actually participating.

Four of the homegrown Orioles were traded at the deadline this year: Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, Jonathan Schoop and Zach Britton. The others are Nick Markakis, Josh Hader, Eduardo Rodriguez and Stephen Tarpley.

The eight homegrown Cubs on Division Series rosters are Gleyber Torres, Josh Donaldson, Marwin Gonzalez, Rich Hill, D.J. LeMahieu, Brandon Guyer, Chris Rusin and Ryan Flaherty.

Note: This list does not take into account Wild Card rosters.

Homegrown Players On Division Series Rosters

Team Number
Rockies 14
Astros 11
Dodgers 11
Yankees 10
Red Sox 9
Braves 8
Indians 8
Brewers 6

*Players such as Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp, Lorenzo Cain and David Robertson who were drafted and developed by a team, played for other teams and are now back with their original team are counted in their original team’s total.

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