The 10 Unsung Heroes of the 2023 MLB Season
For each of the 10 MLB teams with the best odds of making the 2023 postseason, we've singled out the one player who doesn't show up in headlines anywhere near as often as he should for providing as much value to the team as he does.
For instance, for all the talk about Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, would the Philadelphia Phillies be in the postseason picture right now without Bryson Stott?
Or while everyone knows about Baltimore's All-Star relievers Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista, how many leads would that tandem even get to protect were it not for the consistently clutch work of Danny Coulombe?
To be clear, we're not arguing that Orlando Arcia and Jason Heyward are more important players than Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mookie Betts. But if you take Arcia away from Atlanta or Heyward away from Los Angeles, they probably aren't mercilessly running away with the top two seeds in the National League.
After the main 10 teams, we'll also highlight an unsung hero for the nine other teams that have won at least 74 games. Two of those squads will make the playoffs, and the player identified figures to play a large-but-under-appreciated role in getting them across the finish line.
Teams are listed in alphabetical order. Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play Wednesday.
Atlanta Braves: Orlando Arcia, SS
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2023 Stats: .265/.319/.429, 17 HR, 60 RBI, 24 2B, 1.7 bWAR
Before the regular season began, the big unknown for Atlanta was whether it could repeat the 101-win campaign from 2022 with Dansby Swanson out of the picture.
We all kind of assumed that Vaughn Grissom—who hit .291 in 41 games played last season before hitting .371 in spring training—was the direction this franchise would go.
However, in a move that was questioned by basically everyone, the Braves opted for someone with more big-league experience in Orlando Arcia, sending Grissom back down to Triple-A Gwinnett to start the season.
It sure did pay off, though.
Arcia started off hot, posting a .911 OPS through his first 13 games before landing on the IL with a fractured wrist. But after missing just three weeks with that injury, he has played in every single Atlanta game dating back to May 7, becoming not only a permanent fixture at shortstop, but also an All-Star for the first time in his career.
(And, like, a legitimate All-Star selection, too. Atlanta fans stuffed the heck out of the ballot boxes, but there wasn't a clearly superior NL shortstop in the first half of the season.)
The 29-year-old middle infielder has set new career highs for runs, doubles, home runs and RBI.
Moreover, in typical Alex Anthopoulos fashion, Atlanta has Arcia inked to a ridiculously team-friendly, multi-year deal. He's making $2.3 million this season and $2 million in each of the next two seasons before a $2 million club option for 2026.
At this point, it's no longer a question of whether Atlanta has a long-term solution at shortstop, but rather how it plans to also work Grissom into the mix for the foreseeable future, as 2B Ozzie Albies isn't going anywhere anytime soon, either.
Baltimore Orioles: Danny Coulombe, LHP
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2023 Stats: 47.1 IP, 5-1, 2 saves, 21 holds, 2.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 1.4 bWAR
We could have gone a number of different ways for Baltimore's unsung hero.
Kyle Bradish has gotten enough attention over the past two months that he probably no longer fits the description, but Dean Kremer has kind of quietly won 12 games and made 14 quality starts for this much-criticized starting rotation.
And how about Ryan O'Hearn—after posting a negative-2.8 bWAR over the previous five seasons in Kansas City and appearing in just 16 of Baltimore's first 55 games—not only blossoming into an everyday staple in the O's lineup, but actually leading the team with an .859 OPS?
Give us Danny Coulombe, though, who has had to emerge from the bullpen in his superhero cape on a regular basis.
Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano have gotten a ton of national attention for their work at the back end of this bullpen, but Coulombe has been silently indispensable.
He primarily works the seventh and eighth innings, but 26 of his 56 appearances were technically save opportunities. Yet, despite inheriting a near MLB high 46 runners this season, the 33-year-old southpaw who entered this season with zero saves and just 17 holds in his career has blown just three leads all season.
In one of those blips, he entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in a one-run game, got out of that jam with a pair of strikeouts and then blew the lead when tasked with trying to pitch the following inning, too. And in his only blown save in his last 41 appearances, Coulombe allowed just one hit in an inning of work, but that hit allowed an inherited runner to score from second base to tie the game. (Baltimore still won that game.)
Prior to allowing a solo home run in Monday's win over Houston, Coulombe had gone 12 consecutive innings without allowing a run of his own to score, while also keeping nine of 11 inherited runners from crossing the plate.
Houston Astros: Yainer Diaz, C/DH
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2023 Stats: .286/.309/.552, 23 HR, 59 RBI, 3.3 bWAR
Through the first 27 games of Yainer Diaz's career—21 this season and the six in which he appeared as a September call-up last year—there was nothing heroic about this backup catcher. He was a .206 hitter with one home run, somehow giving the Astros even less on offense than they were getting from their pitch-framing, career .207 hitter Martín Maldonado.
Since May 31, though, Diaz has been arguably the best hitter on this roster.
In those 293 plate appearances, Diaz has hit .301/.324/.602 with 22 home runs. Both the slugging percentage and the home run total rank No. 1 among Astros during that time, even though he's only started 65 of their 98 games played.
In fact, Diaz has been so good that Houston fans have been relentlessly clamoring for him to be playing every day, leading Astros manager Dusty Baker to make a statement in late August that they're handling him "like a young quarterback" and that the city and the organization will "thank (Baker) later" for it.
So, will they even let this unsung hero play a big role in the postseason?
It's clear that Maldonado is still their preferred catcher, and that Yordan Alvarez is the main designated hitter. One has to assume that those two will be starting the vast majority of Houston's playoff games, and that they'll be reluctant to even use their No. 2 catcher as a pinch hitter, unless it's for Maldonado.
It would be a real shame to not adequately utilize Diaz's slugging prowess, though.
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Los Angeles Dodgers: Jason Heyward, OF
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2023 Stats: .280/.356/.503, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 2.4 bWAR
One year ago, it looked like Jason Heyward's career was over.
The Chicago Cubs announced last August that Heyward would not return in 2022 and that they would be releasing him in the offseason with one year and $22 million remaining on the eyesore of a $184 million contract they agreed to in December 2015.
Turns out the now-34-year-old outfielder still had a little something left in the tank, though, as he is inexplicably having one of the best seasons of his career with the Dodgers.
He's nowhere near the defensive asset nor the base-stealing threat that he used to be, so his overall value added isn't what it was in the 2010-15 timeframe.
But from just a batting perspective, Heyward has never been better.
Coming into this season, his best ever slugging percentage was .479 in 2012, and his best OPS was .849 in 2010. He's currently at .503 and .859, respectively, averaging a home run in every 22.9 trips to the plate, as well as an extra-base hit in every 9.3 plate appearances.
While that latter number isn't as impressive as it is for teammates J.D. Martinez (7.9), Freddie Freeman (8.1) or Mookie Betts (8.4), the MLB-wide average as of Tuesday morning was 12.4 plate appearances per extra-base hit. So, we're talking way better than average for a guy who was seemingly washed up; who the Dodgers signed to a minor-league deal before offering him a league-minimum salary.
It does need to be noted, though, that Los Angeles has deployed Heyward almost exclusively against right-handed pitching this season. Any team thinking about signing him in free agency will need to platoon him with a right-handed-hitting outfielder.
But who would have possibly guessed before the season that Heyward would be so productive against righties that the Dodgers' primary lineup against right-handed starters would feature Heyward in right field and Mookie Betts at second base?
Milwaukee Brewers: William Contreras, C/DH
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2023 Stats: .283/.361/.458, 17 HR, 74 RBI, 3.3 bWAR
When the Brewers acquired William Contreras via the three-team, nine-player swap in December, everyone simply referred to it as "the Sean Murphy trade," as Atlanta's new catcher was the headliner of that deal.
Heck, this wasn't even the most noteworthy "Will. Contreras" on the move that week, as his brother Willson Contreras signing his contract with St. Louis three days before "the Sean Murphy trade" was viewed as a much bigger deal.
But did you know that among the 135 qualified hitters as of Wednesday morning, FanGraphs had William Contreras rated as the 14th-most valuable position player in the majors, tied with Luis Robert Jr. and Dansby Swanson?
Through the end of June, that certainly wasn't the case. At that time, Contreras was hitting .243 with a .745 OPS. If he was providing much value for Milwaukee in those first three months, it was on defense. And even that's debatable.
Since July 1, however, Contreras is hitting .317 with an .883 OPS and has been the most valuable catcher in the majors. (His brother isn't exactly far behind him, though, as Willson Contreras is batting .343 with a 1.069 OPS since July 1, albeit with woeful defense.)
Quite the night-and-day difference at catcher for the Brewers, who bounced back and forth between Victor Caratini and Omar Narváez, with both hitting right at the Mendoza Line in 2022.
Christian Yelich's resurgence was the big story in Milwaukee early on this season, but he has been limited by a back injury and has homered just once since July 30.
Contreras has become the savior for an otherwise sub-par offense.
Minnesota Twins: Edouard Julien, 2B
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2023 Stats: .268/.380/.461, 14 HR, 31 RBI, 2.3 bWAR
Rookie Edouard Julien was very much not Plan A in Minnesota's quest to replace Luis Arraez in its lineup, nor did he even enter the season as a top-tier prospect.
But between Jorge Polanco starting the season on the IL, Kyle Farmer landing on the IL two weeks into the season with a fractured face and Nick Gordon unable to hit the broad side of a barn in April, Julien became the Twins' "break in case of emergency" option at second base—one they had to keep turning to as Polanco went to the IL again in mid-May and a third time in early June.
Julien hit two homers in his initial eight-game stint in the bigs, two more in his next 11-game substitution gig and then got called up for good on June 10, hitting .314 in his first 15 games of round No. 3 in the majors.
And he was still just getting warmed up.
From July 3-26, Julien triple-slashed .423/.508/.865 with six home runs in 61 plate appearances. It was a stretch in which it became clear he needed to be playing as often as possible, \ oscillating between 2B and DH with former primary DH Byron Buxton out of the picture for the past seven weeks.
The starting rotation has been the obvious hero for the Twins this season, and Royce Lewis is getting all of the headlines as of late with his historic propensity for hitting grand slams.
But Julien might be the biggest unsung hero in all of baseball this season, because Minnesota probably wouldn't be winning the AL Central without this plug-and-play leadoff hitter, and because most fans of the other 29 MLB franchises still probably have no clue who he is.
Philadelphia Phillies: Bryson Stott, 2B
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2023 Stats: .283/.331/.426, 15 HR, 59 RBI, 29 SB, 4.2 bWAR
Bryson Stott made some waves back in April, opening the season on a 17-game hitting streak. However, even then, he was vastly overshadowed by Luis Arraez batting in the mid-.400s, Pete Alonso homering at a preposterous rate and the Tampa Bay Rays being on pace to win about 150 games.
So you might be surprised to learn that even in Philadelphia's vast sea of veterans making eight-figure salaries in 2023, this second-year second baseman has been darn near its most valuable asset.
Zack Wheeler re-claimed the team lead in bWAR by tossing yet another quality start while Stott went 0-for-4 at the dish in Monday's win over Atlanta. Still, Stott is all of 0.1 bWAR behind the ace of the staff, and ahead of the likes of Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto, each of whom is making at least $20 million this season.
Though he does have 15 home runs and 30 doubles, Stott actually ranks dead last in slugging among the nine Phillies with at least 200 plate appearances this season. But he was huge for them in June and July when they turned their season around, batting .320/.366/.473 in 46 games played in those two months.
And on defense, Stott has been one of the most valuable second basemen in the majors. Nico Hoerner is probably going to win the NL's Gold Glove at that position, but Stott should at least be named a finalist.
Tampa Bay Rays: Colin Poche, LHP
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2023 Stats: 55.2 IP, 12-3, 1 save, 20 holds, 2.10 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 1.7 bWAR
Of all the stats you could use to convey a pitcher's value added, wins is one of the worst, as it takes both timely run support and at least some degree of assistance on defense to win a game.
But if Colin Poche gets just one more win this season, he is going to join Ryan Yarbrough as the only pitcher since 2000 to win at least 13 games in a season in which he made fewer than 13 starts.
And, really, Yarbrough going 16-6 while making just six starts in 2018 was a case of Tampa Bay breaking the system with its openers. Yarbrough entered the game in either the second or third inning in 11 of those 16 wins.
In Poche's case, the vast majority of his 12 wins have come in situations where he was called upon in the seventh inning or later, either in a tie game or with the Rays facing a slight deficit. And after he did his job, the offense would do its thing for another W.
He gets some mop-up work every now and then, but 45 of Poche's appearances have come with the Rays leading by three, trailing by two or somewhere in between. So in addition to trailing only Zach Eflin for the team lead in wins and trailing only Shawn Armstrong for the team lead in ERA, Poche is leading the team in holds by a wide margin.
Basically, with a starting rotation so compromised by injury, this middle reliever has been the super glue not only holding this season together, but giving the Rays a chance at the AL's No. 1 seed.
Texas Rangers: Dane Dunning, RHP
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2023 Stats: 157.0 IP, 10-6, 3.78 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 2.5 bWAR
While Dane Dunning didn't pitch terribly between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, getting away from needing to use him and/or Glenn Otto on any sort of regular basis in the starting rotation was the reason Texas went out and spent so much money this past offseason on Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney.
But when deGrom got hurt, it was Dunning to the rescue.
Not only did he pitch 3+ innings in relief both times deGrom left a start with an injury, but he took over deGrom's spot in the rotation once he was out of the picture.
And with the exception of getting torched for nine earned runs in a recent relief appearance against Houston—in which he was just out there to eat up innings after Eovaldi departed in the second inning—Dunning has been maybe the most valuable pitcher on this extremely expensive pitching staff.
Despite not making his first start until early May, Dunning has tallied 11 quality starts—more than he had in either of the past two seasons—including three outings with at least 10 strikeouts.
But the real heroism here is simply his availability and durability. No one could have possibly predicted this in the preseason, but Dunning is leading the Rangers in innings pitched and has the second-best ERA among their five pitchers who have made at least 10 starts.
The Rangers have allowed more runs this season than every other AL team still realistically in the mix for a playoff spot, but they'd be in much worse shape in that department were it not for Dunning.
Toronto Blue Jays: Daulton Varsho, OF
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2023 Stats: .220/.286/.376, 17 HR, 53 RBI, 15 SB, 3.4 bWAR
Make no mistake about it: Daulton Varsho has been a disappointment at the plate.
While he wasn't some elite hitter over the previous two seasons in Arizona, he at least had an above-average OPS+ (106) from 2021-22 and homered at just under a 162-game pace of 30 last season.
This year, Varsho's OPS+ (82) is atrocious, as only Javier Báez has a worse on-base percentage (.265) among qualified hitters.
But the reason Toronto traded away Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno to get Varsho was for his defense in the outfield, which was an absolute black hole for the Blue Jays last season. And in that regard, Varsho (and Kevin Kiermaier) have delivered in a massive way, tied with Cleveland's Andrés Giménez for second in the majors in defensive WAR, per Baseball Reference. (Coincidentally, Moreno is No. 1, thriving as a rookie in Arizona.)
Because of that value added on defense, Varsho allegedly has been Toronto's fourth-most valuable player this season, behind only Matt Chapman, Bo Bichette and Kiermaier.
Sure would be huge if he could turn a corner on offense, though. He was batting in the heart of the order for the vast majority of Toronto's first 45 games, but they've been burying him in the 9-hole lately.
Perhaps he's starting to wake up a little bit, though, between the game-tying triple that he hit on Saturday and the homer that he hit on Sunday.
Other Unsung Heroes
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In addition to the 10 teams most likely to make the playoffs, there are nine other teams that have won at least 48 percent of their games this season. Let's briefly nominate an unsung hero for each of them, too.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Gabriel Moreno—He hasn't been hitting for much power, but this rookie catcher is batting .286 and has been the most valuable defensive asset in the majors as far as Baseball Reference is concerned. Not quite as much overall value added as teammate Corbin Carroll, but it's closer than you probably thought.
Boston Red Sox: Chris Martin—We highlighted Martin earlier this week as one of the players enjoying a career year, but let's call his number again, because this 37-year-old middle reliever has allowed just one run in 32.2 innings of work dating back to June 9. Boston is on the brink of being mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but that might've happened two weeks ago were it not for Martin making them basically impenetrable in the eighth inning.
Chicago Cubs: Javier Assad—Between Kyle Hendricks missing the first eight weeks of the season and Marcus Stroman missing six weeks of action over the summer, Chicago's pitching staff has needed a long reliever/spot starter who can eat up innings, preferably while allowing minimal runs. And Assad has provided in a gigantic way. Among the 117 pitchers who entered Wednesday with at least 100 innings pitched this season, Assad's 3.04 ERA ranked eighth in the majors.
Cincinnati Reds: Will Benson—A first-round pick in 2016, Benson had just one extra-base hit in 28 games played last season as a rookie in Cleveland. He got traded to Cincinnati in February and played sparingly for the first two months before igniting in late May. Over his last 87 games, the 25-year-old outfielder has triple-slashed .291/.386/.544 with 32 extra-base hits. Among 201 players with at least 250 plate appearances since May 30, his .930 OPS ranks 13th.
Miami Marlins: Jesús Luzardo—Everyone already knew Sandy Alcantara as the reigning NL Cy Young winner, and we all quickly fell in love with rookie phenom Eury Pérez. But how about the job Luzardo has done for the Marlins, quietly racking up 16 quality starts and 194 strikeouts? In six of his last 15 starts, he has gone at least six scoreless innings with at least seven Ks, including blanking Atlanta for six innings in his last outing. Miami has won 18 of his 30 starts.
New York Yankees: Anthony Volpe—The rookie shortstop's batting average isn't great, but what else is new on this team? There are 24 Yankees with at least 24 plate appearances this season, and the only one batting over .260 is Gleyber Torres. But Volpe's range on defense has been Jeter-esque, and he is one of 14 players with at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Aside from Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole, Volpe has been New York's best player.
San Diego Padres: Ha-Seong Kim—Kim hasn't been as productive over the past month as he was through mid-August, but there was a point not that long ago where he was flirting with leading all players (aside from Shohei Ohtani) in bWAR. He doesn't generate headlines like Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts do, but between great defense, solid hitting and 36 stolen bases, Kim has been San Diego's MVP.
San Francisco Giants: Patrick Bailey—Calling Bailey an unsung hero might be a bit inaccurate, as people are already talking up this rookie catcher like he's the second coming of nine-time Gold Glove winner Yadier Molina. But because he isn't hitting particularly well (.248/.302/.383), Bailey still isn't getting as much attention as he deserves.
Seattle Mariners: José Caballero—Not only has Caballero had a solid rookie season, ranking second on the team in both on-base percentage (.351) and stolen bases (26), but he was the answer to Seattle's Kolten Wong problem. He has officially been worth 2.4 bWAR, but it's more like six wins above replacement, since he replaced a guy who was on pace for about negative-3.5 bWAR.
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