Whitecaps FC Homegrown attacker Theo Bair had a solid debut MLS season for the 'Caps, playing 824 minutes in the league while registering two goals and two assists.
The young Canadian will be looking to progress and improve those numbers in his second season. But how did his first-year production compare to other Homegrown contributors of past MLS years?
Below is a list of Homegrown attacking players in their first seasons playing extended minutes (min. 600), sorted by goals and assists per 90 minutes.
<strong>Year</strong> |
<strong>Name</strong> |
<strong>Age</strong> |
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>GP</strong> |
<strong>GS</strong> |
<strong>Mins</strong> |
<strong>G</strong> |
<strong>A</strong> |
<strong>G+A/90</strong> |
<strong>SH</strong> |
<strong>SOG</strong> |
2017 |
Anthony Jackson-Hamel |
23/24 |
MTL |
21 |
11 |
1,137 |
9 |
4 |
1.03 |
32 |
14 |
2018 |
Sebastian Saucedo |
21 |
RSL |
28 |
10 |
1,031 |
3 |
5 |
0.70 |
46 |
23 |
2018 |
Corey Baird |
22 |
RSL |
31 |
21 |
1,903 |
8 |
5 |
0.61 |
39 |
20 |
2011 |
Juan Agudelo |
18 |
NYRB |
27 |
12 |
1,364 |
6 |
2 |
0.53 |
44 |
17 |
2014 |
Harry Shipp |
22 |
CHI |
33 |
26 |
2,346 |
7 |
6 |
0.50 |
40 |
16 |
2016 |
Jordan Morris |
21/22 |
SEA |
34 |
32 |
2,856 |
12 |
4 |
0.50 |
71 |
36 |
2012 |
Diego Fagundez |
17 |
NE |
20 |
8 |
770 |
2 |
2 |
0.47 |
18 |
9 |
2016 |
Alex Muyl |
20/21 |
NYRB |
27 |
18 |
1,599 |
2 |
6 |
0.45 |
30 |
12 |
<em><strong>2019</strong></em> |
<em><strong>Theo Bair</strong></em> |
<em><strong>19/20</strong></em> |
<em><strong>VAN</strong></em> |
<em><strong>17</strong></em> |
<em><strong>10</strong></em> |
<em><strong>824</strong></em> |
<em><strong>2</strong></em> |
<em><strong>2</strong></em> |
<em><strong>0.44</strong></em> |
<em><strong>12</strong></em> |
<em><strong>7</strong></em> |
2016 |
Jordan Hamilton |
19/20 |
TOR |
14 |
11 |
911 |
3 |
1 |
0.40 |
20 |
12 |
2014 |
Dillon Serna |
19/20 |
COL |
27 |
18 |
1,623 |
3 |
4 |
0.39 |
39 |
14 |
2017 |
Jack McBean |
22 |
LAG |
18 |
8 |
715 |
2 |
1 |
0.38 |
9 |
4 |
2017 |
Daniel Salloi |
20/21 |
SKC |
22 |
12 |
1,172 |
3 |
2 |
0.38 |
42 |
19 |
2017 |
Djordje Mihailovic |
18 |
CHI |
17 |
7 |
732 |
1 |
2 |
0.37 |
8 |
1 |
2017 |
Bradford Jamieson IV |
20/21 |
LAG |
24 |
11 |
984 |
3 |
1 |
0.37 |
8 |
3 |
2013 |
Gyasi Zardes |
21/22 |
LAG |
27 |
23 |
2,170 |
4 |
4 |
0.33 |
78 |
23 |
2013 |
Jonathan Osorio |
20/21 |
TOR |
28 |
18 |
1,697 |
5 |
1 |
0.32 |
28 |
8 |
2010 |
Andy Najar |
16/17 |
DC |
26 |
22 |
1,983 |
5 |
1 |
0.27 |
36 |
13 |
2017 |
Derrick Etienne |
20 |
NYRB |
18 |
8 |
702 |
0 |
2 |
0.26 |
13 |
6 |
2015 |
Jordan Allen |
19/20 |
RSL |
23 |
11 |
1,083 |
1 |
2 |
0.25 |
13 |
7 |
2013 |
Jose Villareal |
19/20 |
LAG |
22 |
12 |
1,109 |
2 |
1 |
0.24 |
37 |
12 |
2016 |
Jay Chapman |
22 |
TOR |
18 |
9 |
780 |
0 |
2 |
0.23 |
12 |
5 |
2018 |
Memo Rodriguez |
22 |
HOU |
19 |
6 |
645 |
1 |
0 |
0.14 |
12 |
2 |
2017 |
Alphonso Davies |
16 |
VAN |
26 |
9 |
1,053 |
0 |
1 |
0.09 |
15 |
2 |
2016 |
Tommy Thompson |
20/21 |
SJ |
17 |
9 |
825 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
12 |
5 |
How did they fare the following season?
The results have varied greatly. Some players, like former ‘Caps winger Alphonso Davies, took a big step forward in their offensive production. Others remained steady, and some battled adversity as they moved through the early phase of their career. A number of factors obviously come into play, including age and maturity, personal development, competition for places, role, injuries, team performance, and the amount of rotation within that team's schedule.
Below is each player's follow-up season, sorted by minutes.
<strong>Year</strong> |
<strong>Name</strong> |
<strong>Age</strong> |
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>GP</strong> |
<strong>GS</strong> |
<strong>Mins</strong> |
<strong>G</strong> |
<strong>A</strong> |
<strong>G+A/90</strong> |
<strong>SH</strong> |
<strong>SOG</strong> |
2015 |
Harry Shipp |
23 |
CHI |
33 |
29 |
2,571 |
3 |
8 |
0.39 |
53 |
19 |
2011 |
Andy Najar |
17/18 |
DC |
31 |
28 |
2,522 |
5 |
6 |
0.39 |
57 |
20 |
2013 |
Diego Fagundez |
18 |
NE |
31 |
28 |
2,427 |
13 |
7 |
0.74 |
55 |
29 |
2018 |
Alphonso Davies |
17 |
VAN |
31 |
27 |
2,420 |
8 |
11 |
0.71 |
37 |
15 |
2014 |
Gyasi Zardes |
22/23 |
LAG |
32 |
26 |
2,392 |
16 |
2 |
0.68 |
74 |
30 |
2018 |
Daniel Salloi |
21/22 |
SKC |
29 |
26 |
2,291 |
11 |
7 |
0.71 |
78 |
31 |
2018 |
Corey Baird |
23 |
RSL |
31 |
23 |
2,104 |
5 |
4 |
0.38 |
31 |
14 |
2014 |
Jonathan Osorio |
21/22 |
TOR |
27 |
24 |
2,039 |
3 |
4 |
0.31 |
17 |
6 |
2017 |
Alex Muyl |
21/22 |
NYRB |
30 |
21 |
1,938 |
3 |
4 |
0.33 |
36 |
14 |
2017 |
Jordan Morris |
22/23 |
SEA |
23 |
22 |
1,801 |
3 |
1 |
0.20 |
34 |
14 |
2012 |
Juan Agudelo |
19 |
<p>NYRB/Chivas USA</p> |
24 |
17 |
1,570 |
3 |
3 |
0.34 |
44 |
16 |
2017 |
Tommy Thompson |
21/22 |
SJ |
32 |
16 |
1,534 |
1 |
4 |
0.29 |
42 |
12 |
2019 |
Memo Rodriguez |
23 |
HOU |
26 |
16 |
1,392 |
7 |
5 |
0.78 |
47 |
20 |
2019 |
Sebastina Saucedo |
22 |
RSL |
26 |
13 |
1,189 |
2 |
4 |
0.45 |
41 |
15 |
2016 |
Jordan Allen |
20/21 |
RSL |
23 |
11 |
1,099 |
3 |
2 |
0.41 |
15 |
8 |
2018 |
Jack McBean |
23 |
COL |
22 |
13 |
1,060 |
2 |
1 |
0.25 |
20 |
9 |
2018 |
Derrick Etienne |
21 |
NYRB |
30 |
9 |
961 |
5 |
1 |
0.56 |
35 |
17 |
2015 |
Dillon Serna |
20/21 |
COL |
15 |
8 |
680 |
3 |
1 |
0.53 |
13 |
7 |
2018 |
Djordje Mihailovic |
19 |
CHI |
9 |
8 |
582 |
1 |
4 |
0.77 |
9 |
2 |
2018 |
Anthony Jackson-Hamel |
24/25 |
MTL |
16 |
6 |
580 |
2 |
0 |
0.31 |
14 |
8 |
2017 |
Jay Chapman |
23 |
TOR |
12 |
3 |
385 |
1 |
0 |
0.23 |
6 |
1 |
2018 |
Bradford Jamieson IV |
21/22 |
LA |
6 |
3 |
271 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
0 |
2017 |
Jordan Hamilton |
20/21 |
TOR |
8 |
0 |
142 |
2 |
1 |
1.90 |
5 |
3 |
2014 |
Jose Villareal |
20/21 |
LAG |
5 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0 |
Bair certainly wasn't the only Homegrown to feature in 2019. Below are several of his attack-minded peers who jumped into the fray this year.
<strong>Name</strong> |
<strong>Age</strong> |
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>GP</strong> |
<strong>GS</strong> |
<strong>Mins</strong> |
<strong>G</strong> |
<strong>A</strong> |
<strong>G+A/90</strong> |
<strong>SH</strong> |
<strong>SOG</strong> |
Omir Fernandez |
20 |
NYRB |
18 |
3 |
568 |
2 |
2 |
0.63 |
12 |
6 |
Benji Michel |
21/22 |
ORL |
17 |
9 |
943 |
5 |
1 |
0.57 |
11 |
9 |
Efrain Alvarez |
16/17 |
LAG |
14 |
4 |
518 |
0 |
3 |
0.52 |
12 |
5 |
Jesus Ferreira |
18 |
DAL |
33 |
29 |
2,453 |
8 |
6 |
0.51 |
59 |
22 |
<em><strong>Theo Bair</strong></em> |
<em><strong>19/20</strong></em> |
<em><strong>VAN</strong></em> |
<em><strong>17</strong></em> |
<em><strong>10</strong></em> |
<em><strong>824</strong></em> |
<em><strong>2</strong></em> |
<em><strong>2</strong></em> |
<em><strong>0.44</strong></em> |
<em><strong>12</strong></em> |
<em><strong>7</strong></em> |
Gianluca Busio |
16/17 |
SKC |
22 |
10 |
923 |
3 |
1 |
0.39 |
27 |
11 |
Cole Bassett |
17/18 |
COL |
20 |
14 |
1,063 |
2 |
2 |
0.34 |
13 |
7 |
Paxton Pomykal |
19 |
DAL |
25 |
20 |
1,876 |
2 |
5 |
0.34 |
28 |
10 |
Brendan Aaronson |
18/19 |
PHI |
28 |
25 |
1,722 |
3 |
2 |
0.26 |
34 |
9 |
Jacob Shaffelburg |
19 |
TOR |
10 |
8 |
672 |
0 |
1 |
0.13 |
11 |
4 |
How will this next wave of MLS Homegrowns progress in their follow-up seasons? Stay tuned to find out.
