The 12 Best MLB Players Who Competed In The Little League World Series

The nature of the Little League World Series means it’s going to feature some of the world’s best up-and-coming baseball players, and it’s only natural that some of them will eventually make it to the MLB. Dozens of future pros got the chance to compete for a championship in Williamsport, and there are plenty of notable names on that list.

The Little League World Series has a history stretching back to 1947, and tens of thousands of kids have earned the right to compete in the annual showcase since it was held for the first time more than 78 years ago.

The vast majority of those players will end up abandoning baseball and pursuing another passion at some point in their lives, but more than 60 LLWS participants have ended up on an MLB roster.

Here are the most notable members of that list.

Gary Sheffield

The team that Tampa sent to the Little League World Series in 1980 featured four future MLB Draft picks (they lost to Chinese Taipei in the finals after dominating the games they played to get there), and none of them ended up making a bigger name for themselves than Gary Sheffield.

The nine-time All-Star known for wagging his bag before taking a swing was drafted by the Brewers with the sixth overall pick in 1986 and has a 22-year run that came to an end after the 2009 campaign

Cody Bellinger

We’ve got our first active MLB player in the form of Cody Bellinger, who played for the team from Chandler, Arizona that lost in the quarterfinals of the LLWS in 2007.

The outfielder won National League Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers in 2017 and has since added two Silver Sluggers, an NL MVP, and a World Series title to his résumé.

Jason Varitek

Jason Varitek and his teammates from Almonte Springs, Florida made it to the LLWS in 1984, and they represented the United States in the championship before falling to South Korea.

The catcher spent the entirety of his 15-year career with the Red Sox and served as the captain for the team that broke The Curse of the Bambino and won two World Series during his time in Boston.

Derek Bell

Bell was one of Sheffield’s teammates on the aforementioned Tampa team (he returned to the LLWS in 1981) and the only other one who actually played in the MLB after being drafted.

He had a slightly less successful career, but the outfielder won a World Series with the Blue Jays and ultimately hung around the league for 11 seasons.

Wilson Alvarez

Wilson Alvarez is the first player we’ve mentioned who was on a LLWS series team that hailed from outside the United States; he played for Venezuela when they made it to the quarterfinals in 1982.

The pitcher never came close to becoming a household name as a pro, but he had a respectable 14-year career and was inducted into his native country’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Jason Bay

We’ll follow up our first international player with another one, as Jason Bay’s team from British Columbia represented Canada during a run to the semifinals in 1990.

Bay got off to a hot start after winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2004, and the outfielder earned three All-Star Game selections and a Silver Slugger before retiring in 2014 after 11 seasons.

Todd Frazier

Todd Frazier is the first person on this list who was on a team that won the Little League World Series, as he was a member of the squad hailing from Toms River, New Jersey that triumphed over the rest of the field in 1998.

The infielder made his MLB debut with the Reds in 2005, and the two-time All-Star who won the home run derby in 2015 ultimately spent 11 seasons in the league.

Jason Marquis

It does seem like there is a disproportionate number of guys named “Jason” who played in the LLWS before making it to the MLB, and Jason Marquis checked that box while reaching the semifinal with his team from Staten Island in 1991.

The pitcher won a Silver Slugger in 2005 and had his lone All-Star Game selection in 2009 during a career that spanned 15 years and saw him play for nine different teams.

Colby Rasmus

The squad that Phenix City, Alabama sent to the Little League World Series in 1999 featured five future MLB players, including two brothers who made it to The Show: Colby and Cory Rasmus.

The former ended up faring the best, as he played with five different teams over the course of a decade (the latter, on the other hand, only made it four seasons).

Ruben Tejada

Ruben Tejada’s team from Santiago de Veraguas, Panama repped Latin America at the LLWS in 2001 but wasn’t able to advance from the pool stage.

The shortstop had a bit more luck once he arrived in the MLB, as he lasted nine seasons while spending the majority of his career with the Mets. Tejada is still chasing his pro baseball dreams, as he’s been playing in the Mexican League since 2024.

Jonathan Schoop

Curaçao hadn’t historically been a contender at the Little League World Series since a team that boasted Jonathan Schoop and fellow future MLB player Jurickson Profar won it all in 2004.

That was Schoop’s second (and final) trip to Williamsport, and the infielder went on to play 11 seasons in the MLB  before joining Tejada in Mexico in 2024.

Charlie Hayes

This one is a bit of a throwback compared to most of the guys we’ve mentioned so far, but I still have to give credit where credit is due to Charlie Hayes, who played for the team Hattiesburg, Mississippi sent to the LLWS in 1977.

The third baseman ultimately played for seven different teams while spending 14 seasons in the MLB, and he won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1996.