It is officially 18 days until the 2025 MLB Opening Day! For our official countdown here on FlurrySports, we will be releasing the best players in MLB history to wear the jersey number of the number of days remaining. Follow along to keep track of how many days until the MLB season, and share who YOU think the best player to ever wear that jersey number is! Click here to see the best MLB players from yesterday.
With 18 days until the 2025 MLB Opening Day, we give you the best MLB players to wear #18. Of course, some of the all-time greats at this number will still be playing this season. They have the ability to continue rising up this list! The official ranking of these players is based on the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) from Baseball Reference.
Please note that every player listed from now until the end of the countdown will only be used once. So, for example, Barry Bonds wore both 24 and 25 in his career, but he will only be chosen for one number. Basically, treat it as when you hear this player’s name, this is the number that you think of. A good rule of thumb is if the player wore a certain number for 10 or more years, they are probably going to be featured, with some exceptions.
Without further ado, here are the all-time best players to wear #18 in MLB history.
When is MLB Opening Day 2025?
You may be wondering when the 2025 MLB Opening Day is! For our countdown here on FlurrySports, we will be listing the five greatest players in MLB history to wear the jersey number that corresponds with the number of days remaining. The 2025 MLB Opening Day is March 27, 2025. With that being 18 days from now, here are the best players to wear 18 in MLB history!
Best Players to Wear 18 in MLB History
1) Bret Saberhagen, P (1984-99, 2001)
WAR: 58.9
MLB Draft: 1982, Round 19, Pick 480 by the Kansas City Royals
3x All-Star | 2x AL Cy Young Award | 1x World Series MVP | 1x Gold Glove | 1x MLB Wins Leader | 1x AL ERA Leader
World Series Champion (1985)
Pitched a No-Hitter (1991)
2) Johnny Damon, OF (1995-2012)
WAR: 56.3
MLB Draft: 1992, Round 1, Pick 35 by the Kansas City Royals
2x All-Star | 1x AL Stolen Bases Leader
2x World Series Champion (2002, 2005)
3) Gene Tenace, C/1B (1969-83)
WAR: 46.8
MLB Draft: 1965, Round 20, Pick 400 by the Kansas City Athletics
1x All-Star | 1x World Series MVP
4x World Series Champion (1972-1974, 1982)
4) Ben Zobrist, 2B/OF (2006-19)
WAR: 44.5
MLB Draft: 2004, Round 6, Pick 184 by the Houston Astros
3x All-Star | 1x World Series MVP
2x World Series Champion (2015, 2016)
5) Mel Harder, P (1928-47)
WAR: 44.3
MLB Draft: 1928, Signed by the Cleveland Indians
4x All-Star | 1x AL ERA Leader
World Series Champion (1948)
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