Methodology
Who counts as a Latino ballplayer is a real question with no single answer. We make our rules public so you can see exactly what every number includes.
Who is included
Tier 1: Born in Latin America
Any player whose recorded birthplace is in a Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking country or territory in the Americas. This is automatic and drives every country page and leaderboard on the site. Today that is 2,487 players across 11 countries and territories.
Puerto Rico is listed as its own country, as it is in the World Baseball Classic and in MLB's annual roster census.
Panama Canal Zone: our source records births in the former Canal Zone as U.S. births. We review those individually and assign Panamanian players, such as Rod Carew, to Panama.
Tier 2: Latino heritage, born elsewhere
Many Latino players were born in the United States or Canada. We include them only when a cited source, such as the player's own statements, documents their heritage. We never infer heritage from a surname. Tier 2 players are labeled and are not counted in country totals or leaderboards.
Caribbean neighbors
Players from Curaçao, Aruba and other non-Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands are not counted as Latino here.
Leaderboards
- Career totals include all major league seasons, including Negro Leagues seasons that MLB recognized as major league in 2020.
- Batting average leaders need at least 3,000 at-bats. ERA leaders need at least 1,000 innings pitched.
- Statistics are through the 2025 season and update once a year when the database is released.
Sources and credits
Statistics come from the SABR Lahman Baseball Database, created by Sean Lahman and maintained by the Society for American Baseball Research, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Player names are corrected for Spanish accents where we have verified them.
Corrections
Found a wrong birthplace, a missing accent or a player we've left out? Email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it and note the change.