With this Rasmus girl making news in the LLWS, and the new Women's Professional Baseball League, it got me wondering what would it take for a girl to legit make a major league roster. The obvious first thought is hell no, they won't have the physical abilities, but baseball is just as much about skill as it is about physical talent. The one possibility I think might have a legit chance would be for a girl to master the knuckleball. There are some girls in the new WPBL who can hit low 80s on their fastball (I have no idea how much movement that has, though). RA Dickey and Tim Wakefield both topped out in the mid 80s with their fastballs, although Dickey could get the knuckleball around that speed, too. The knuckleball really doesn't take much power to throw, so I could see a girl really master it. Combine that with a low to mid-80s fastball, and maybe a slow curve, could that be enough to get a girl to the majors?

Well, according to wiki no high school or university in the US offers women's baseball, and only 9 ladies played on college baseball programs in 2024.

I'm thinking the WPBL ingenues are probably going to need more street cred than their 15 game season will allow them to show in order to slip your hypothetical knuckleballer into MLB.

In a similar vein, I wonder what major league pitchers would be able to break into the AUSL. Those ladies can routinely pitch complete games, while going 6 innings in MLB is considered kind of an accomplishment. Putting up a 4.5 ERA isn't great, but if you can be not great for 6 innings it transforms into a quality start.

Maybe the Marlin's Alcantara given his length?

Maybe a trans girl could

Are there even any guys throwing knuckleballs now?

toucan82 said:

---

Are there even any guys throwing knuckleballs now?

---

Matt Waldron, although he has been pretty bad. It's not unusual for there to be periods where no one in the majors throws it, though. It's a tough pitch to master, and generally there's never more than two or three people in the majors who can in pull it off.

Depends on how good her knuckleball is

Quote:

---

but baseball is just as much about skill as it is about physical talent.

---

Except it's really not.

Every player on a major league roster is physically talented in one way or another, be it strength, speed, etc...

Could a female get good enough throwing a knuckleball to strike a major league hitter out?

Sure. But based on the percentage of male knuckleballers in the history of the big leagues, it's almost a minuscule chance.

Probably more likely you'd see a pinch runner female, but even that would likely just be a gimmick because roster restrictions make it too difficult to have someone whose sole purpose is to pinch run and nothing else.

The physiological differences between a professional male athlete and a professional female athlete are profound.

This question always comes up when we see things like the Rasmus girl, but in some ways 12 year old girls are not that far behind 12 year old boys in physical development. By the time they are adults though, there is no comparison at the professional athlete level.

Skill certainly plays a role in baseball, but all of these skilled players are also elite athletes; and if they weren't, their path to the big leagues would be very narrow.

The real problem would be that pitcher is a defensive position on the field.

What would she do when player after player started pushing bunts towards the mound? Field the position and be able to throw out major leaguers sprinting to first?

Is she going to cover first base when the first baseman has to range to his right for a ball?

Is she going to back up plays at first and home plate?

What's her response time going to be the first time the knuckleball doesn't knuckle and Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a line drive that hits her in the hip as she tries to turn away from it?

AggieEP said:

---

The physiological differences between a professional male athlete and a professional female athlete are profound.

This question always comes up when we see things like the Rasmus girl, but in some ways 12 year old girls are not that far behind 12 year old boys in physical development. By the time they are adults though, there is no comparison at the professional athlete level.

Skill certainly plays a role in baseball, but all of these skilled players are also elite athletes; and if they weren't, their path to the big leagues would be very narrow.

---

In a lot of cases a 12-year old girl will be more physically developed than a 12-year old boy since girls generally hit puberty before boys. Think of how frequently girls in 5th & 6th grade and even early in 7th grade are taller than almost all the boys- they hit puberty and got their growth spurts but by later in 7th grade and then 8th grade the boys have caught up.

I grew up with a chick that played football in Bryan at St. Joseph's Catholic school in like 6th grade. She also played in 7th & 8th at the public junior high. She was a country strong ranch girl with older brothers and was a beast. She went on to be a thrower in T&F in college. But when she tried to play football again in 9th grade she got absolutely crushed by the worst of the boys on the team in the trenches and she was way too slow to play anywhere else.

In the abstract, I think a woman could be capable of fielding the pitcher position competently enough to make a team. Maybe guys could bunt their way on. But bunting a knuckleball is extremely difficult as well. Also, we assuming there isn't some new pitch that could be created for a woman's arm action and different finger dexterity.

There are plenty of male pitchers who don't/can't field the position very well.

Perhaps a woman has already struck out two hall of famers.

https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-mystery-of-jackie-mitchell-and-babe-ruth/

Joe Niekro taught a girl the knuckleball

https://www.mlb.com/news/knuckleballer-chelsea-baker-is-the-real-deal/c-70199388

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/eri-yoshida-returning-to-play-in-ny-indy-league.html

A knuckleballer out of Japan has made some noise in independent leagues.

A trio of women had some success in the Negro Leagues.

https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/toni-stone-connie-morgan-and-mamie-johnson-blazed-trail-for-women-in-negro-leagues


I do think there are some biological factors that work against this happening. So the woman would likely be younger (early twenties) but I think it is theoretically possible for a woman to become good enough at the knuckleball to become a bullpen arm for an MLB team.

I think for it to happen, you would need something like Driveline creating a program for this purpose and applying it to girls across the country in order to have enough candidates and training to make it happen.

Then you would need a person who would be willing to put in the work knowing that failure is almost the certain outcome, but still dedicating themselves fully. Basically, the female Trevor Bauer. Some who is willing to make themselves into a pitcher at the expense of everything else in life. Probably have the same crash out as well.

I think biggest barrier is the lack of coaching/training/infrastructure to facilitate someone getting there.

Only 1 girl has ever played baseball at the D-1 collegiate level. She was 0-4 at the plate with a HBP (came a round to score later) and she pitched once retiring the only batter she faced during her 4 years at Brown.

Pichardo comes in and retires the lone batter she faces to lock down the Bears win in game 1 on Senior Day!#EverTrue pic.twitter.com/dZuwNLNKKj

— Brown Baseball (@BrownU_Baseball) April 25, 2026

Mr.Ackar07 said:

---

Only 1 girl has ever played baseball at the D-1 collegiate level. She was 0-4 at the plate with a HBP (came a round to score later) and she pitched once retiring the only batter she faced during her 4 years at Brown.

---

I am seeing this as a positive step. We now know it is possible a women to pitch an out in a D-1 baseball game. With basically an entire system designed to prevent her from doing this. Getting a woman to MLB is basically a moonshot.

Are we are looking at Wright Brothers and saying it is impossible to fly to the moon?

CharleyKerfeld said:

---

The real problem would be that pitcher is a defensive position on the field.

What would she do when player after player started pushing bunts towards the mound? Field the position and be able to throw out major leaguers sprinting to first?

Is she going to cover first base when the first baseman has to range to his right for a ball?

Is she going to back up plays at first and home plate?

What's her response time going to be the first time the knuckleball doesn't knuckle and Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a line drive that hits her in the hip as she tries to turn away from it?

---

Lol. I have to assume this is meant sarcastically, or else it's extremely stupid. If Bartolo Colon and CC Sabathia could field the position, I'm sure an athletic girl can. I do think a girl could probably learn to throw a good enough knuckleball, but I'm not sure she could develop a good enough second and third pitch.

Why do we have to explore every situation under the sun whether a woman can do it as good as a man?

AustinAg2K said:

---

CharleyKerfeld said:

---

The real problem would be that pitcher is a defensive position on the field.

What would she do when player after player started pushing bunts towards the mound? Field the position and be able to throw out major leaguers sprinting to first?

Is she going to cover first base when the first baseman has to range to his right for a ball?

Is she going to back up plays at first and home plate?

What's her response time going to be the first time the knuckleball doesn't knuckle and Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a line drive that hits her in the hip as she tries to turn away from it?

---

Lol. I have to assume this is meant sarcastically, or else it's extremely stupid. If Bartolo Colon and CC Sabathia could field the position, I'm sure an athletic girl can. I do think a girl could probably learn to throw a good enough knuckleball, but I'm not sure she could develop a good enough second and third pitch.

---

I guess it was extremely stupid.

CharleyKerfeld said:

---

AustinAg2K said:

---

CharleyKerfeld said:

---

The real problem would be that pitcher is a defensive position on the field.

What would she do when player after player started pushing bunts towards the mound? Field the position and be able to throw out major leaguers sprinting to first?

Is she going to cover first base when the first baseman has to range to his right for a ball?

Is she going to back up plays at first and home plate?

What's her response time going to be the first time the knuckleball doesn't knuckle and Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a line drive that hits her in the hip as she tries to turn away from it?

---

Lol. I have to assume this is meant sarcastically, or else it's extremely stupid. If Bartolo Colon and CC Sabathia could field the position, I'm sure an athletic girl can. I do think a girl could probably learn to throw a good enough knuckleball, but I'm not sure she could develop a good enough second and third pitch.

---

I guess it was extremely stupid.

---

I think it is a valid concern. There is the defensive aspect to he position that is often overlooked. I just don't think it is the biggest hurdle and if a women can get the arm action good enough to throw consistently in MLB, I think while they could be a poor fielder, it will be good enough to keep them on the field.

If you were a knuckleballer who could place your pitch, it wouldn't matter if you were a boy or a girl. You'd be priceless.

We all know that is not the nature of a knuckleball.

She's good, but in 2 years she won't be able to keep up with the boys anymore. So to answer your question, no.

This. With all of the usual ESPN hoopla they very carefully avoided any mention that she was the biggest kid on her team and more physically developed than all but a handful across all of the teams. They list height AND weights for every kid but her. She is at least 150 if not 160+ lbs. MLB pedigree + 5-7/160# 12 year old will usually equal a pretty dominant player assuming the kid wants to play.

True.

I was involved in USA Swimming for a number of years. You can really see the changes year-by-year.

Below are the "Motivational Times" by Age Groups. For 12 yo Girls v Boys... the "B" times for 50 LCM Fly and Breast set faster times for Girls than Boys. LCM is Long Course Meters, which is the Olympic size pool.

Worth noting, most boys aren't swimming the Fly because they don't have the strength, flexibility, and coordination to do it. Those that do, quickly outpace the Girls.

Even without the Motivational Times, it was my experience that until 13... 14, Girls often beat Boys. After 13, you generally see significant differences in speed. And power.

https://www.usaswimming.org/docs/default-source/timesdocuments/time-standards/2025/2028-motivational-standards-single-age.pdf