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Study: MLB racial and gender hiring numbers remain stagnant

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With all players and coaches wearing #42 in remembrance of Jackie Robinson, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Anthony Varvaro, right, sets to pitch during a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947, taking the field as the first African-American player for the Brooklyn Dodgers. From left are Nationals first base coach Tony Tarasco, Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli, Nationals base runner Tyler Moore and Varvaro. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
With all players and coaches wearing #42 in remembrance of Jackie Robinson, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Anthony Varvaro, right, sets to pitch during a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, taking the field as the first African-American player for the Brooklyn Dodgers. From left are Nationals first base coach Tony Tarasco, Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli, Nationals base runner Tyler Moore and Varvaro. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Major League Baseball maintained its grades for its racial and gender hiring practices, while its percentage of African-American players remained only slightly above a study’s low set in the 2007 season.

That’s according to the annual report issued Wednesday by Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. It gave MLB an A grade in racial hiring and C in gender hiring.

The rosters on opening day featured 8.3 percent of players who identified as African-American, a slight increase from 8.2 in 2014, which equaled the study low set in 2007. It hasn’t been 10 percent since 2002.

MLB managers identifying as a racial minority dropped 10 percentage points from 16.7 percent (five total) in 2014 to 6.7 (two total) this year.

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