Current Pro Baseball Players from Tennessee (MLB 2023)
Baseball Players, and athletes of all sports really, take pride in where they’re from. Whether it’s the state, city or area code – you always notice players wanting to rep their home area.
Fans tend to do the same thing. It’s always more fun to pull for a player when they’re from your home state (or even your hometown), especially when that player also happens to be playing on your favorite team.
With all that in mind, we went through MLB.com and pulled every player’s home state (or country) on the 40-man rosters for each team.
We found 18 players from the state of Tennessee on major league rosters. That’s enough to rank Tennessee 13th out of all 50 states (Tied with Alabama). As far as individual cities, Memphis and Nashville are the most well-represented cities with 3 players each. They’re also the only cities with more than one major leaguer.
MLB Players from Tennessee
Here are the 18 guys representing the state of Tennessee on MLB Rosters at the start of the 2023 season including what town he’s from and what team he plays for.
| Name | City | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Riley | Memphis | Braves |
| Brent Rooker | Germantown | As |
| Brett Martin | Morristown | Rangers |
| Collin Snider | Nashville | Royals |
| Dakota Hudson | Dunlap | Cardinals |
| Drew Pomeranz | Memphis | Padres |
| Ethan Roberts | Sparta | Cubs |
| Ethan Small | Jackson | Brewers |
| Jonathan Hernandez | Memphis | Rangers |
| Lane Thomas | Knoxville | Nationals |
| Mookie Betts | Nashville | Dodgers |
| Penn Murfee | Nashville | Mariners |
| Robbie Ray | Brentwood | Mariners |
| Ryan Weathers | Loretto | Padres |
| Sam Moll | Lakeland | As |
| Sonny Gray | Smyrna | Twins |
| Tony Kemp | Franklin | As |
| Wil Crowe | Kingston | Pirates |
Player Bios
Here is a little more background info on a few of the standout players from the state of Tennessee:
Mookie Betts
Mookie Betts, born October 7, 1992, in Nashville, Tennessee, attended John Overton High School in Nashville. He distinguished himself as an outstanding athlete in both baseball and basketball.
Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB Draft, Betts quickly rose through the minor leagues. In his MLB career, Betts has achieved numerous accolades, including MVP honors, multiple All-Star selections, World Series titles, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and a batting title.
Brent Rooker
Brent Rooker, born in Germantown, Tennessee, attended Evangelical Christian School in Germantown. He excelled in both baseball and football, leading his school to the Division 2-A State Championship Game in football as the starting quarterback and being named a 2013 Tennessee Mr. Football finalist.
Rooker played college baseball at Mississippi State University, where he further honed his skills. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Rooker has played various positions in the majors, including outfielder and designated hitter, showcasing his versatility and power-hitting ability.
Sonny Gray
Sonny Gray was born in Smyrna, Tennessee. He embarked on his baseball career at a young age, developing his skills and showcasing his potential as a pitcher. Gray’s high school and college years were marked by significant growth and development in his baseball abilities, leading to his successful career in Major League Baseball.
Gray has become a key figure in the MLB with 3 All-Star appearances over his 11-year career and finishing runner-up in Cy Young voting in 2023.
Hall of Fame Players from Tennessee
In addition to the current players from Tennessee, we compiled a list of all players that have gone on to make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame:
| Name | City | Induction Year |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey Stearnes | Nashville | 2000 |
| Lee MacPhail | Nashville | 1998 |
Baseball Hometown Fun Facts
California, by far, has the most current MLB players of any state with 189.
The second most was the state of Florida with 89, followed by Texas (78), Georgia (40) and New York (38).
The Dominican Republic has 120 players currently in major league baseball which is incredibly impressive considering the country has a total population of only 11 million people. By comparison, the state of California has a population of 39 million and the state of Florida has a population of almost 22 million.
Other States
We are slowly but surely getting all the states published from the data we collected. Here are a few of the other states we currently have available.
Current MLB Players from Rhode Island
