There are a few predictors of future success in baseball. One might be a blazing-fast heater in high school; another could be preternatural bat speed. But one thing that rarely translates: success in the Little League World Series. Over the 77-year history of the event, just 64 have played in MLB. (I guess that’s a decent ratio overall, but you know what I mean.)
One of those players is Hagen Danner, whom the Mariners claimed in January of this year. In fact, Danner was the star on the 2011 Huntington Beach, CA LLWS champions: He hit .500 across the tourney and struck out 17 over 8.