Five years ago this Saturday an 18-year-old Bryce Harper played the third regular season game of his minor league career, 19-year-old Mike Trout played his third ever game in Double-A, and 23-year-old Cedric Hunter made the last major league appearance of his career… until today. After a five year hiatus almost to the day, Cedric Hunter is about to return to the major leagues and I can’t stop thinking about it.
At the start of the 2011 season, Hunter appeared in six games for the Padres and made five plate appearances. Given that he was just 23 and had been a decently regarded prospect — the type that shows up on organizational Top 10s, but not necessarily global Top 100s — he had to think his major league career was just beginning, but in the five years since he’s made 2,075 plate appearances at the Double- and Triple-A level without another taste of the majors.