Baseball - MLB Opening Day rosters feature 275 international players

A total 275 international players from a record-tying 21 countries and territories appeared on Opening Day rosters, Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Friday.

The total number of international players represents 28.2per cent of a total pool of 975 players and trails only the 291 recorded in 2020, MLB said in a news release.

As has been the case each year since MLB began releasing the data in 1995, the Dominican Republic led the way among countries and territories outside the United States with 99 players.

Venezuela (67), Cuba (23) Puerto Rico (16) and Mexico (13) rounded out the top five.

For the second consecutive season, the Houston Astros have the most internationally-born players with 16, followed by the Washington Nationals (15), Minnesota Twins (13), San Diego Padres (13) and Miami Marlins (12).

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)