From Mike Trout to Aaron Judge: These are the top 5 shrink posts on players by Instagram sensation MLB Minis

Modified Jun 21, 2022 16:48 GMT

St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols gets his version of MLB Minis. (Photo courtesy of MLB Minis Twitter page)

A new sensation is sweeping across the Major League Baseball scene — MLB Minis. The concept shrinks players to miniature figures. Almost everyone gets a kick out of the images.

It was started by young Hayden Scott Parker, who used to pitch for Nebraska Wesleyan University. He started the MLB Minis Instagram page in January 2021, and it now has around 100,000 followers.

Players and fans alike have been buzzing and wanting content from the page. Many pros even directly message Parker asking for their own mini version. Let's take a look at some of the page's more iconic work.

#5 Mike Trout

In this piece, the Los Angeles Angels three-time MVP can be seen swinging an overly huge bat.

#4 Bryce Harper

The reigning National League MVP is also not safe from turning elf-sized. He can be seen here celebrating a grand slam with his huge bat beside him.

#3 Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge is known for being a massive and athletic player. Here, though, he is shrunken and sporting oversized cleats.

#2 Shohei Ohtani

The incumbent American League MVP — more known on the page as Shohei "Oh-tiny," can be seen here cleaning his shoe, which is half his size.

#1 Ronald Acuña Jr.

One of the most iconic works on the page features Ronald Acuña Jr. doing Lebron James' "Silencer" celebration after scoring a homer off Corbin Burnes. His gloves, shin guard, and shoes are all oversized.

In the real-time moment, Acuña Jr. had just come off a lengthy injury layoff and had the Atlanta crowd pumped up.

Honorable Mention: Jose Altuve

Of course, the diminutive 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve was also featured. He has been the target of jokes on the page due to his small stature.

MLB Minis creator's inspirational story

Hayden Scott Parker originally did the work out of fun. Being an Arizona Diamonbacks fan, he initially made a piece for Ketel Marte.

The young man had heart surgery in 2019 before his junior year. During his recovery, he learned about Photoshop. He worked as a supervisor for two hotels in Phoenix after graduating from college but chose to quit the job after the page's success.

On June 29, he will undergo a second open-heart surgery that will replace his aortic valve with an artificial facimile. He used his MLB Minis creation as a sort of escape. Seeing the positive reactions from people, it certainly gave him hope to push on.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Jodi Whisenhunt