{"id":118026,"date":"2026-04-06T21:27:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=118026"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:27:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:27:54","slug":"teenager-prospects-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/06\/teenager-prospects-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Teenagers and Their Success in MLB"},"content":{"rendered":"
Since 2000, eight players have made their Major League debut before turning 20. Konnor Griffin<\/a> became the latest player to do so last weekend<\/a>. But what did the players ahead of him achieve? Between the lot, five MVPs have been awarded, two players earned Rookie of the Year honors, and the group earned 28 All-Star appearances. Ironically, none of the players have earned a Gold Glove.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Teen Stars<\/span><\/h2>\n

Bryce Harper – 1B\/OF (Washington Nationals \/ Philadelphia Phillies)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Bryce Harper<\/a> was one of the most polarizing players in baseball when he came up as a teenager. Many fans and even some teammates took offense to the swagger he brought to the game. Many remember when he fought teammate Jonathon Papelbon<\/a> in the dugout. Harper had the talent to back up this swagger, though. Across 14 full seasons, Harper is one of the highest-acclaimed players on the list. He won Rookie of the Year, won two MVPs, and has appeared in eight All-Star games. All of these awards and accomplishments have led Bryce Harper to a career bWAR of 53.8 going into the 2026 season.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Juan Soto – OF (Washington Nationals \/ San Diego Padres \/ New York Yankees \/ New York Mets)<\/span><\/h3>\n
The second former National prospect who debuted as a teenager is Juan Soto<\/a>. Soto was also known for his aura, rubbing players and some media the wrong way<\/a>. Some of this may have just been his age, but the \u2018Soto Shuffle\u2019 has still been immortalized. This is in large part due to Soto\u2019s success on the diamond. Soto\u2019s best tool is by far his bat, and he has been rewarded for it. Across eight full seasons, Soto has accumulated the second most Silver Sluggers on the list with six and has won a batting title. From a team standpoint, he even helped to lead the Nationals to a World Series title in just his second season at the age of 20. Going into the 2026 campaign, Soto has amassed a career bWAR of 43.2.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Mike Trout – OF (Los Angeles Angels)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Mike Trout<\/a> may be a lock for the Hall of Fame<\/a>. There are still questions about what could have been. Even though Trout has been in LA since he was a teenager, he has never won a postseason series. However, despite injuries and a lack of teammate production, Trout is by far the most decorated of the players on the list. He won his first MVP at just 23 after finishing runner-up as a rookie. He then added two more across the rest of his career. Trout has also been a mainstay in the Mid-Summer Classic, appearing in 11 All-Star games and winning MVP in two of said games. Additionally, Trout has nine Silver Slugger awards while manning the outfield at Angel Stadium. While injuries have been a factor, Trout has accumulated a career bWAR of 87.4 before the start of the 2026 season.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Justin Upton – OF (Arizona Diamondbacks \/ Atlanta Braves \/ San Diego Padres \/ Detroit Tigers \/ Los Angeles Angels \/ Seattle Mariners)<\/span><\/h3>\n
While Justin Upton<\/a> may have been the younger of the two brothers, he was the more productive. The former teenage prospect was a star for the Diamondbacks. With the Diamondbacks, Justin was selected to two All-Star games and was awarded a Silver Slugger. He was even named an All-Star for three different franchises during his career and received MVP votes on three different teams. The former left-fielder finished his career with three Silver Slugger awards and four All-Star selections. Throughout his career, he achieved a career bWAR of 32.2 across 16 seasons.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Teen Spirit or Lack Thereof<\/h2>\n

B.J Upton – OF (Tampa Bay Rays \/ Atlanta Braves \/ San Diego Padres \/ Toronto Blue Jays)<\/span><\/h3>\n
B.J. Upton<\/a> was the elder of the two Upton brothers and was seen to have more speed than his younger sibling. While he may have debuted as a teenager, B.J. didn\u2019t play in a game during his age-20 season. Bouncing back in 2006 before becoming an everyday player in 2007. Throughout his career, B.J. stole at least 40 bases three times and at least thirty bases two other times. He also had four seasons in which he hit for at least 20 home runs and stole 20 bases, with the first coming in 2007. B.J. compiled a career bWAR of 16.5 across 12 seasons and four teams.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Jurickson Profar – INF\/OF (Texas Rangers \/ Athletics \/ San Diego Padres \/ Colorado Rockies \/ Atlanta Braves) <\/span><\/h3>\n
As a teenager, Jurickson Profar<\/a> was the number one prospect in baseball before debuting with the Rangers. When he was called up, he was thought to be the everyday shortstop for the Rangers for years to come, helping extend their championship window. However, it took a while for Profar to get his feet underneath him at the big league level. It wasn\u2019t until six years after debuting at 19 that Profar was able to become an everyday player for the Rangers. He then had a very up-and-down career before his best year in 2024, when he became an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger. However, he was suspended for PEDs<\/a> for 81 games in 2025 and again for a full season before 2026. Through 12 seasons, Profar has racked up a career bWAR of 9.5.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Wilson Betemit – INF (Atlanta Braves \/ Los Angeles Dodgers \/ New York Yankees \/ Chicago White Sox \/ Kansas City Royals \/ Detroit Tigers \/ Baltimore Orioles)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Wilson Betemit<\/a> debuted as a teenager and may also be the group’s first journeyman. Over 11 seasons, he played for seven franchises. He made his debut at 19 in 2001, appearing in just eight games, but did not play again for the Braves until 2004. Betemit hit .300 once, in his first season as a regular. Unfortunately, that was the main highlight of his career. He finished with a career bWAR of 2.8.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Main Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since 2000, eight players have made their Major League debut before turning 20. Konnor Griffin became the latest player to do so last weekend. But what did the players ahead of him achieve? Between the lot, five MVPs have been awarded, two players earned Rookie of the Year honors, and the group earned 28 All-Star […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5736,"featured_media":118081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1071,35],"tags":[4687,315,37,2133,1138,579,28625,248,29385],"class_list":["post-118026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-mlb","category-news","tag-b-j-upton","tag-bryce-harper","tag-jonathan-papelbon","tag-juan-soto","tag-jurickson-profar","tag-justin-upton","tag-konnor-griffin","tag-mike-trout","tag-wilson-betemit"],"modified_by":"Augustus Oswald, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118026"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118092,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118026\/revisions\/118092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}