It is officially 23 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 23 days until the 2025 MLB Opening Day, we give you the best MLB players to wear #23. 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 #23 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 23 days from now, here are the best players to wear 23 in MLB history!
Best Players to Wear 23 in MLB History
1) Zack Greinke, P (2004-23)
WAR: 77.5
MLB Draft: 2002, Round 1, Pick 6 to the Kansas City Royals
6x All-Star | 1x AL Cy Young Winner | 1x All-MLB Second Team | 6x Gold Glove | 2x Silver Slugger | 2x MLB ERA Leader
2) Ryne Sandberg, 2B (1981-94, 1996-97)
WAR: 67.9
MLB Draft: 1978, Round 20, Pick 511 to the Philadelphia Phillies
10x All-Star | 1x NL MVP | 9x Gold Glove | 7x Silver Slugger | 1x NL Home Run Leader | Baseball Hall of Fame (2005)
3) Luis Tiant, P (1964-82)
WAR: 66.1
MLB Draft: 1961, signed as an amateur free agent to the Cleveland Indians
3x All-Star | 2x AL ERA Leader
4) Robin Ventura, 3B (1989-2004)
WAR: 69.3
MLB Draft: 1988, Round 1, Pick 10 to the Chicago White Sox
2x All-Star | 6x Gold Glove
5) Ted Simmons, C (1968-88)
WAR: 50.4
MLB Draft: 1967, Round 1, Pick 10 to the St. Louis Cardinals
8x All-Star | 1x Silver Slugger | Baseball Hall of Fame (2020)
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