The Nominees for MLB's Most Underrated Players of the 2021 Season Zachary D. Rymer September 7, 2021 Let's give Wade Miley the credit he deserves. Corey Maggette While he was slowed by injuries throughout his career, Johnson was a bona fide ace when healthy. Career Stats: 443 G (412 GS); 176-137; 3.44 ERA; 1.25 WHIP; 2,895.1 IP; 2,572 H; 1.61 K/BB. Bob Watson not only played in relative obscurity for 13 seasons with the Astros but also had his home-run total reduced by the cavernous Houston Astrodome. He hit at least 20 home runs in nine consecutive seasons from 1933 through 1941, and drove in at least 100 runs for seven straight seasons, from 1935 through 1941. He struck out a ton, but he also hit .240/.319/.438 while averaging 23 home runs, 20 steals and 2.4 WAR in his five full seasons with the team. From 1903 to 1909, he averaged 29 wins per season, leading the NL three times in . Career Stats: 399 G (393 GS); 158-152; 3.17 ERA; 1.23 WHIP; 2,837 IP; 2,619 H; 1.85 K/BB. Honorable mention: Bobby Abreu, who fell just short ofa .300/.400/.500 slash for the first decade of the 2000s. The great game of baseball. 1919 Cincinnati Reds. He was a legitimate star in 2012 (137 OPS+, 22 HR, 92 RBI) and 2013 (129 OPS+, 13 HR, 97 RBI), but was traded to the Red Sox the following year and his production dropped off significantly from there. He led the National League in hits with 192 in 1990 as a member of the Giants, led the National League in runs scored twice and triples four times while consistently placing near the top of the league in stolen bases. Norm Cash thrived in the middle of the Tigers' lineup for 15 years, though he was often overshadowed by his teammates Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito. If memory serves correctly, its his truck, too. Renteria made his MLB debut in 1996 at the age of 19, finishing runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He posted a .994 fielding percentage in 1989, committing only five errors in more than 850 chances. Career highlights: NFL Most Valuable Player (1997), two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1989 . White was also one of the two runs that scored on Dave Winfield's 11th-inning-double in Game 6 of that series, the hit that eventually won the championship for Toronto. Career Stats: 2,239 G; .296/.340/.375; 37 HR; 842 RBI; 2,705 H; 1,357 R; 62-for-135 SB. Over the next three games, Eckstein hit .615/.643/.846 with eight hits, three doubles, three runs scored and four RBIa run that not only led the Cardinals to the World Series championship but one that won him World Series MVP honors. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A seventh-round pick in the 1998 draft, Holliday reached the majors in 2004 and made an immediate impact, finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Dating back to the year 2000, we've seen 40 different players win Rookie of the Year Awards. He reminds me a bit of Reggie Smith, another eternally underrated outfielder. There have been just 12 position players worth three or more WAR in each of the last four seasons. But during the Yankees' era of Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Ron Guidry, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, et al., Nettles was often unappreciated. The Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1936 to honor the very best players in MLB, America's oldest organized sport. We throw around words like ballplayers toss around a baseball during pregame warm-ups in the outfield. From 1999 through the 2004 season, Vidro was unquestionably one of the most productive second basemen in the game. He was by no means an all-or-nothing power hitter though, with a .293/.406/.537 career batting line. Bonds qualifies here because the steroid-addled caricature he created for himself in his final seasons obscures everything he was before. Is Bryce Harper the most underrated player in baseball and is Bo Bichette the most overra. In 1978, he finished third in the AL MVP voting behind the Yankees' Ron Guidry and the eventual winner, Boston's Jim Rice. He won 80 games and posted a 3.66 ERA in 1,163.1 innings in his first years in the big leagues, but multiple Tommy John surgeries limited him to just 49 innings after his age-27 season. Giles finished his career with more than 300 more walks than strikeouts, and while he was never the same player in San Diego as he was in Pittsburgh, Giles was one of the most popular Padres during his time with the club. Part of the Impossible Dream Sox team that won the 1967 American League pennant in one of the closest races in history, Petrocelli hit two home runs in Game 6 of the World Series, forcing a Game 7 that the Sox ultimately lost to Bob Gibson and the Cardinals. Seattle Mariners designated hitter Ty France (23) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. He was a two-time All-Star and also won a Silver Slugger. Across 15 MLB seasons, he tallied 2,096 hits, 316 home runs, 1,220 RBI and 44.5 WAR. In Game 2 of the 1992 World Series against the Braves, David Justice was at-bat with runners on first and second. Career Stats: 2,011 G; .284/.376/.527; 393 HR; 1,199 RBI; 1,949 H; 1,251 R; 67-for-117 SB. Top 5 Underrated Position Players 5: Ty France (UTIL), Seattle Mariners Last year, Ty France came on to the scene when he hit over .300 in 23 appearances during the shortened season. Forget the Coors Effect. A nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner during his 19-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, Concepcion's contributions were routinely overshadowed by his Hall of Fame teammates, namely Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Morgan. He hit .292/.332/.424 for a 108 OPS+ with 28.5 WAR in nine seasons with the Halos, earning one All-Star selection and some down-ballot MVP support in 2014 when he logged a career-high 6.1 WAR. He represented Toronto in two midsummer classics, won three consecutive Silver Sluggers from . A 20-homer, 20-steal player in 2007 and 2008, Hart also had a 31-homer, 102-RBI campaign in 2010 when he earned his second All-Star selection. All-time underrated athletes. He had a 126 OPS+ with 22 home runs, 22 steals and a career-high 3.5 WAR in 151 games in 2013, earning a two-year, $8.5 million extension. Some of them -- many of them! Leonard had a career record of 139-133 with a 2.76 ERA, and in 1914, he led the American League with a remarkable 0.96 ERA, the major league record for lowest ERA among pitchers who threw at least 150 innings in the same season. His brilliance with the glove is easier to document than Ty Cobb's temper, Hack Wilson's drinking or Walter Johnson's fastball; it is all over the literature of the sport. In 2010, as a member of the Padres, Eckstein went 113 consecutive games without committing an error as a second baseman, a record that stood until this past August when the Cubs' Darwin Barney tied it and later broke it. A six-time All-Star with the Yankees, Willie Randolph was one of the best second basemen in the game for more than a decade. Tim Wallach could play both corner-infield and outfield positions, and even took the mound twice for the Expos, in 1987 and 1989. Fck. His 18.1 total WAR in a Royals uniform ranks 24th in franchise history. Six times over his 13-year career, Morris would hit over .300, though he did so with little powerhis 16-home-run season of 1996 was the most he'd ever hit. Concepcion was rounding the bases after hitting a home run and crossed home plate roughly four seconds after Watson. Duchscherer is not often mentioned in the same breath as Dennis Eckersley or John Smoltz, but he pulled off the rare feat of being named an All-Star as both a starter and a reliever. When 22-year-old Bert Campaneris made his major league debut in 1964, he took Twins starter Jim Kaat deep in his first major league at-bat. Not bad considering that neither shortstop or second base had really evolved to the slugging positions we've grown accustomed to over the past 15 years. Some of them, shall we say, have not. Best-Selling Autographs from 2021 Topps Sterling Baseball 2021 Panini Instant Rated Rookie Showcase Football One-Sheet Collections: Rookie Cards of the 2001 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, One-Sheet Collections: Most 3s by 7-Footers, One-Sheet Collections: 1990s World Series MVPs, $100 Colorado Rockies Baseball Card Starter Kit One-Sheet Collections. Lopez had a 2.47 ERA in 446 regular season outings, along with a 1.38 ERA and nine holds in 25 playoff appearances. Johnson was one of them, and Carroll captured how underrated "Indian Bob" truly was: Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it can also make certain ballplayers nigh unto invisible. Big-time. It sounds crazy, I know, to suggest a player who won three National League MVPs and eight Gold Gloves in a decade was anything but one of the most celebrated players of it. Career Stats: 2,012 G; .291/.364/.416; 89 HR; 674 RBI; 2,138 H; 1,124 R; 174-for-255 SB. He won Silver Slugger honors in 2014, hitting .271/.342/.467 for a 126 OPS+ with 23 home runs and 76 RBI and two years later he was traded to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese. Career Stats: 2,328 G; .259/.311/.342; 79 HR; 646 RBI; 2,249 H; 1,181 R; 649-for-898 SB. It's easy to go overlooked when you can call Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges teammates during your career. In his second go-around with the team, he hit .291/.354/.477 for a 120 OPS+ while averaging 23 home runs, 98 RBI and 3.0 WAR over five seasons. The A's career leader in hits, his 649 stolen bases ranked seventh on the all-time list when he retired, a number that ranks 14th today. Regardless, Rolen has borderline Hall of Fame numbers for a third baseman and quietly did much of it the first decade of the 2000s. My thought, by the way, is that many 19th century ballplayers are underrated and that were just re-discovering them via Baseball Reference.). He was also named MVP of the 1980 American League Championship Series when he hit .545 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored as the Royals swept the Yankees in three games. Playing alongside future Hall of Famers like Paul Molitor and Robin Yount and solid pros in Sal Bando and Gordon Thomas, Money was selected to four All-Star games as part of the "Brew Crew" and set the major league record for consecutive games played at third base without committing an error, 86 games, in 1974. Career Stats: 2,213 G; .290/.377/.376; 54 HR; 578 RBI; 2,375 H; 1,359 R; 558-for-815 SB. Career Stats: 1,514 G; .271/.347/.350; 28 HR; 574 RBI; 1,450 H; 676 R; 188-for-252 SB. Jim Abbot underrated because he had one hand.His best season came two years later with the Angels in 1991, when he went 18-11 with a 2.89 ERA, finishing third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Tigers' fans remember him fondly for his contributions during their march to the World Series championship in 1968. The Cardinals starting second baseman in three World Series (1982, 1985 and 1987), Tommy Herr paired with the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith, to form one of the best double-play combinations the game has seen in the past 30 years. Like Oaklandsmore celebrated starting rotation, theres tremendous depthin the bullpen (plus a couple oftalented relievers on the 40-man roster who could getSeptember call-ups.) That's the response we set out to elicit with our rundown of each MLB team's most underrated player of the past 20 years. Its not the best peak in baseball history, but it also isnt far off. Most of the names you would expect: Andrew McCutchen, Dustin Pedroia, Matt Holliday, Robinson . But that overshadowed what was a wonderful career on the field, and especially when fielding his position. It was an impressive, but largely forgotten peak. While his lifetime ERA of 3.17 would lead someone to expect Steve Rogers to have a more impressive career win-loss record, he was often the victim of terrible run support during many challenging years in Montreal. Conine wasn't about gaudy numbershe was simply consistent. He also had two no-hitters as a member of the Red Sox withthe first coming in 1916 against theSt. Louis Brownsand the second in 1918 against theDetroit Tigers. Theres also Buddy Bell, Ron Santo, Ken Boyer and a range of other third basemen who hit respectably and offered superb, if under-appreciated, defensive value. While I thought he was great at his job back then, it turns out that he was a damn fine ballplayer as well. As a member of the Blue Jays, he was involved in one of the more bizarre plays in World Series history. Career Stats: 1,881 G; .271/.360/.404; 160 HR; 758 RBI; 1,803 H; 964 R; 233-for-350 SB. His 146 home runs rank eighth all-time in franchise history. Originally a Yankee, Hal Morris was sent to Cincinnati in 1989 in exchange for Tim Leary in a perfect example of how George Steinbrenner used to run the club; trading prospects for veterans. Among pitchers to start at least 220 games in . The following year he helped lead the Florida Marlins to an unexpected World Series title. Career Stats: 1,720 G; .261/.328/.406; 176 HR; 729 RBI; 1,623 H; 798 R; 80-for-131 SB. Career Stats: 2,324 G; .255/.293/.383; 160 HR; 886 RBI; 2,006 H; 912 R; 178-for-261 SB. Think about Dennis Johnson of the 1980sthe dude was a five-time All-Star and a Finals MVP. Pitching: Christy Mathewson leads the pitching staff and he would battle Wagner for player of the decade honors. During the first six seasons of the 2000s, he hit .292/.406/.584 while averaging 35 home runs, 98 RBI and 6.1 . Gil Hodges and the Mets were convinced that Amos Otis was a third baseman. You've read the headline. I assume Heywards best years are in front of him. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Ibanez began his MLB career with five forgettable seasons as a part-time player with the Mariners before breaking out in Kansas City. Niese spent six full seasons in the Mets rotation from 2010 through 2015, posting a 59-59 record with a 3.86 ERA while averaging 171 innings per year. One of the more versatile players of his time. He has Rookie Cards in 1997 Bowman, Bowman Chrome and Topps Stars. He moved to third base in 1971 when Boston acquired Luis Aparicio and was still manning the hot corner in 1975 when the Sox won the AL pennant and played in one of the most exciting World Series in history, losing in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds. That's the beauty of sportsnobody watches a game the same way. The tussle between Myers and McCabe was short yet spirited, but the new Toronto blueliner picked up 17 penalty minutes on the play five for fighting, plus a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct. He is currently the leader amongst active. The American League Rookie of the Year Award recipient in 1993, Salmon spent his entire 14-year career with the Angels and is one of the most celebrated players in franchise history. Originally drafted as a catcher, Walker posted a 114 OPS+ while averaging 29 doubles, 16 home runs, 70 RBI and 2.7 WAR in six seasons as the everyday second baseman with the Pirates. Full of young stars from all over the world including twenty different countries. Career Stats: 1,650 G; .242/.309/.324; 41 HR; 490 RBI; 1,340 H; 736 R; 385-for-516 SB. Bonds pre-2000 is only underrated because of his 2000-on roids numbers. 1980-89: Dwight Evans. Career Stats: 1,754 G; .273/.336/.450; 235 HR; 901 RBI; 87-for-157 SB. At his peak, Edmonds was one of the greatest two-way center fielders in MLB history. Career Stats: 2,024 G; .285/.347/.443; 214 HR; 1,071 RBI; 1,982 H; 870 R; 54-for-83 SB. A five-time All-Star, Doc Cramer patrolled center field for four different teams over a 20-year-career, one that saw him hit .300 eight times and break the 200-hit barrier on three different occasions. Five times he hit more than 30 home runs, twice he broke the 100 RBI barrier and eight times he hit more than 20 home runs and drove in at least 70 runs. 6. Career Stats: 1,998 G; .277/.343/.425; 193 HR; 1,007 RBI; 2,020 H; 1,092 R; 341-for-434 SB. Over his career, Beltre racked up over 3,000 hits and nearly made it to 500 home runs. Career Stats: 1,350 G; .300/.359/.522; 242 HR; 898 RBI; 1,550 H; 809 R; SB Data Not Known. Missed the first three parts of this series? Jim Fregosi became the face of the Angels franchiseand its most popular playerduring the 1960s and early 1970s. Before Clayton Kershaw arrived on the scene, it was Billingsley who was on his way to becoming a homegrown ace for the Dodgers after the team selected him 24th in the 2003 draft. A homegrown star before Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau came along, Koskie made good as a 26th-round pick in the 1994 draft. Born without a right hand, Abbott joined the Angels starting rotation in 1989 without having pitched a single inning of minor league baseball, going 12-12 with a 3.92 ERA and finishing fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year Voting. Despite amassing 3,000 hits, doing his best work at the plate in the 1960s when pitchers reigned supreme, and also being an outstanding right fielder, Clemente was not included in recent books I reviewed about the 25 greatest baseball players of all-time and . Bartlett came to the Rays along with Matt Garza in the deal that sent former top prospect Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins. Michael Finley 3. 13, was retired by the team. After the 1973 season, he was traded to the Tigers. Dave Parker, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? The first player to ever open a World Series with a home run, a feat he accomplished in 1969 against the Mets, Buford was generally overlooked due to his more notable teammates getting the majority of the attention: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Mike Cuellar, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports. Twice a .300 hitter and with two 100 RBI seasons under his belt, Oglivie proved that power hitters don't necessarily come in physically imposing packages. All MLB players dream of earning a place alongside legends such as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. Career Stats: 2,084 G; .290/.351/.454; 191 HR; 1,097 RBI; 2,091 H; 940 R; 109 -for-185 SB. He was also a phenomenal defensive second baseman as well and one of the best at turning the double play, yet he never received a Gold Glove Award due to the presence of two other second basemen who were equally as adept with the glove: the Royals' Frank White and the Tigers' Lou Whitaker. Rarely mentioned among the most dominant relievers in recent history, Uehara had a 2.19 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 11.6 K/9 with 79 saves in 91 chances during his four seasons with the Red Sox. They'd go on to win 20 of their next 23 games and the World Series as well. Craig hit .315/.362/.555 for a 151 OPS+ with 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 75 games as a utility player in 2011, then took over as the Cardinals primary first baseman the following year after Albert Pujols departed in free agency. Heres How to Tell Them Apart. Rico never had the attention of the media like his more famous teammate Carl Yastrzemski did, but Boston fans knew that he was a special player, and he remains one of the most popular Red Sox players of the past 50 years. 2022 Bowmans Best Baseball Checklist, Team Set Lists and Details, One-Sheet Collections: Best Active NBA Stars Who Have Never Been All-Stars, 2022 Bowman Inception Baseball Checklist, Team Set Lists, Odds and Details, 2022-23 Leaf Exotic Basketball Checklist and Details, 2021-22 SP Game Used CHL Hockey Checklist and Details, 2023 GAS Arnold Schwarzenegger: Built to Perfection Trading Cards Carry Some Heavy Weight, 2022 Panini Flawless Collegiate Basketball Checklist and Details, 2022 Topps Allen & Ginter Chrome Baseball Checklist, Team Set Lists and Details. A six-time All-Star and one of the most important pieces on the A's teams that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 through 1974, Campaneris was one of the great stolen base artists of his era, leading the league in steals six times.