The MLB is trying to attract African-American pitchers

Greene, who first attended the Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif., when he was 7, also represents Major League Baseball’s potential star role model in its battle to reverse the industry’s scarcity of African-American players.

Greene will be the centerpiece this weekend in Major League Baseball’s inaugural Dream Series in Tempe, Ariz., providing exposure to about 65 minority pitchers and catchers, primarily African Americans.

MLB, with its African-American population hovering around 8%, is trying to focus efforts on attracting more pitchers and catchers.

There were only 14 African-American pitchers on opening-day rosters last year – 1.6% of all major league pitchers – and just one black Canadian-born catcher.

Considering every team employs 12 or 13 pitchers on its 25-man roster, along with at least two catchers, nearly 60% of job opportunities are unavailable if you don’t play those positions.

Now, with the help of Greene and the Dream Series, baseball is hoping to show that it’s cool to be a pitcher or catcher, while also inviting collegiate and professional scouts to take a look for themselves this weekend at the Los Angeles Angels’ spring training complex.

“I love pitching,” Greene, a senior at Notre Dame High School near Los Angeles, told USA TODAY Sports, “but there’s so few African-American pitchers I see out there.

Former major league pitchers Dave Stewart, LaTroy Hawkins, Ken Hill, Marvin Freeman and Darren Oliver will be on hand, as well as Johnson and Webster as catching coordinators.

“I’m just ecstatic to see this happening,” says Hawkins, a catcher and pitcher throughout his high school career in Gary, Ind., before embarking on a 21-year major league career as a pitcher.

And if you want to increase your chances of playing in the major leagues, you’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to be a pitcher or catcher.