A major league record was set over the weekend and is unlikely to be broken — without a reversal of rules that won’t go into effect until next season.
With players such as Jed Lowrie returning from injury and Toronto’s Anthony Kay making his major league debut, the total number of players used this season reached 1,381, breaking last season’s total of 1,379 and marking the sixth straight year a record was set.
This reflects teams’ willingness to use the injured list, their farm systems and maneuverability more than ever. The likelihood is that the final total will exceed 1,400 as teams are still summoning prospects for their debuts, and a group of injured veterans yet to play this year such as Dellin Betances, Luis Severino and Johnny Cueto are getting closer to playing.
The majors did not reach 1,300 players used until 2013 and exceeded 1,200 for the first time in 1999. But the probability is whatever the final tally is this year will not be achieved in 2020 or 2021, and perhaps never again.
Beginning next season, rosters expand from 25 to 26 players from the beginning of the season until Aug. 31, and then it is mandatory that each team set at 28 beginning Sept. 1, but no longer can the rosters go up to as many as 40 in the final month. That rule is in place for 2020-21, throughout the life of the current collective bargaining agreement.
To reach 1,381 — and counting — over the weekend, two 2019 debuts stood out:
— Danny Hultzen was picked second overall in 2011, the Mariners selecting him between two other righties: Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. He was viewed as one of the game’s best prospects before enduring a series of shoulder problems that led to two surgeries and essentially kept him from pitching from 2013-18.
He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs last offseason and on Sunday — at 29 — made his major league debut, striking out three in a scoreless inning against the Brewers.
Each of the top 13 picks from 2011 — except No. 12 Taylor Jungmann, picked by the Brewers — has now played in the majors this season, and each of the top 29 played in the majors at some point. Levi Michael, taken 30th by the Twins, has never played.
— Aaron Barrett had not pitched in The Show since 2015, first suffering Tommy John surgery then a broken humerus before having to work his way back from the lowest level of the minors. He pitched a scoreless inning Saturday for the Nationals against the Braves, returned to the dugout and sobbed into a towel, overwhelmed by the long journey back.
But there have been players who had not been in the majors from before 2015 who did make it back as well this year. Jose Cisnero, Ryan Feierabend and Wilfredo Tovar all last played in the majors in 2014 before this season, and Wilkin Castillo had not appeared in a major league game since 2009 before appearing in two games for the Marlins earlier in 2019.