Regional play in the Little League Baseball World Series is underway, with official bracket play starting on Wednesday, August 16th. In regional games, we have already seen some incredible plays, and some young baseball stars shine at the highest level for their ages.

The Little League World Series is the biggest stage for youth baseball players. These little leaguers are the top players amongst their peers, and they get a chance to compete against the best of the best in a national spotlight, giving them a small taste of what big league baseball looks like.

While not everyone from the Little League World Series goes on to compete at the highest level in baseball, there are a handful of players who continued to dominate their sport and have made it all the way up to the MLB. Let's take a look at who those players currently are.

Active MLB players who played in the Little League World Series

These 12 active players have all seen MLB action this year, and is everyone we know that competed in the Little League World Series.

  • Cody Bellinger
  • Michael Conforto
  • Randal Grichuk
  • Jurickson Profar
  • Nick Pratto
  • Jonathan Schoop
  • Lance Lynn
  • Mathew Batten
  • Yonny Hernandez
  • Josh Lester
  • Drew Ellis
  • Cooper Hummel

2004 Little League World Series alumni

There is a lot of talent currently in the MLB that enjoyed success in the Little League World Series. A lot of that talent took center stage in the 2004 Little League World Series. One of those players was Michael Conforto. The outfielder was the third player in history to play in the Little League World Series, College World Series, and Major League World Series. Conforto was the 10th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, and ended up making his MLB debut only a year later. Conforto, a career .252 hitter, was an All-Star in 2017 and is currently on the San Francisco Giants.

Conforto smashed a home run against Randal Grichuk's team during his appearance in the 2004 LLWS. While Grichuk went up against Conforto in 2004, he also played in 2003. Now on the Los Angeles Angels after a trade deadline move, Grichuk has hit 185 home runs in his career. He displayed that power all the way back in 2004, as Grichuk led all players in hits, home runs, and RBIs in the tournament.

Jurickson Profar was once the top prospect in all of baseball, and was clearly a star from a young age. His talents were on full display in 2004, and he has since gone on to post a .322 on-base percentage throughout his career in the majors.

The 2004 Little League World Series was stacked, as not only Conforto, Grichuk, and Profar played in that year's tournament, but so did Detroit Tigers infielder Jonathan Schoop and Tampa Bay Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt. Schoop is a one-time All-Star, while Bethancourt has played in 79 games for the Rays this year.

Other active MLB players who played in the Little League World Series

Cody Bellinger is perhaps the biggest name on this list. Bellinger rose to fame as a key piece on the Los Angeles Dodgers team that won the 2020 World Series, but his World Series success dates back to his LLWS days. Bellinger had a three-hit, one-home run game in the 2007 Little League World Series, and now he is a two-time All-Star who had a 47-home run season in 2019.

Like Grichuk, Lance Lynn was also on the move at the 2023 MLB trade deadline. Now a member of Los Angeles Dodgers, Lynn has had a long and successful professional career. Since debuting in 2011, the pitcher is a one-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star. He played in the Little League World Series in 1999.

Nick Pratto, Josh Lester, Cooper Hummel, and Mathew Batten are all new to the show, as they all made their big league debuts in 2022. Yonny Hernandez and Drew Ellis were right before them, making their MLB debuts in 2021. Of the group of recent debuts, expectations are highest for Pratto. A former first-round pick, Pratto has struggled in 419 career at-bats, but the Kansas City Royals still have high hopes for the highly-touted first baseman.