7 Under-the-Radar MLB Stars Who Deserve Far More Hype
For one reason or another, there are always a handful of MLB players who simply don't receive the attention they deserve.
Ben Zobrist was the poster child for being underrated for so many years that it reached a point where his "underratedness" was almost overrated, if that makes any sense.
At any rate, there is a fresh batch of under-the-radar stars around the league who deserve far more hype than they are currently receiving.
So here is a look at seven MLB players who may not immediately jump to mind when the term "star" is thrown around but are every bit deserving of the title.
2B Brian Dozier, Minnesota Twins
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After a breakout season in 2013 when he posted a .726 OPS with 18 home runs and 14 stolen bases, Brian Dozier took another step forward last season for the Minnesota Twins.
With 23 home runs and 21 steals, he became just the 14th second baseman in baseball history to post a 20/20 season. He also participated in the Home Run Derby in front of the home fans at Target Field.
Dozier had a 114 OPS+, and his 5.2 WAR paced a Twins team that surprisingly ranked seventh in the league in runs scored.
The Twins rewarded the 27-year-old Dozier with a four-year, $20 million extension this offseason, and he figures to be a cornerstone piece for a young Twins team on the rise.
"He has character. He's a good man. He's good in the clubhouse," general manager Terry Ryan said following the extension, per the Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "People follow him. We wouldn't extend this type of dollar figure and security to a guy that we don't trust. We trust him, on and off the field."
SP Jose Quintana, Chicago White Sox
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It's easy to be overshadowed when you're pitching on the same staff as Chris Sale, but fellow Chicago White Sox southpaw Jose Quintana has emerged as a terrific starter in his own right.
The 26-year-old has quietly turned in back-to-back 200-inning seasons for the South Siders, going 18-18 with 3.42 ERA (3.31 FIP) and 1.231 WHIP.
Not too shabby for a guy the White Sox scooped up as a minor league free agent in 2011 after he had spent the previous four years in the New York Yankees organization.
His 118 ERA+ in 2013 and 2014 is good for eighth among left-handed starters with at least 200 innings. With Jeff Samardzija now joining the White Sox staff, it boasts one of the best starting pitching trios in all of baseball.
Quintana signed a five-year, $21 million extension prior to last season, and with a pair of team options he could potentially be in a White Sox uniform through the 2020 season.
LF Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins
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Originally drafted as a first baseman, Christian Yelich moved to the outfield to begin his pro career, and he has quickly become one of the best left fielders in all of baseball.
After a strong showing as a rookie over 62 games in 2013, Yelich broke out last season with a .284/.362/.402 line that included 30 doubles, 94 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.
As good as he was with the bat, he was even better with the glove, posting a 14.1 UZR/150 with 13 Defensive Runs Saved, according to FanGraphs.
Both numbers paced NL left fielders and trailed only Alex Gordon at the position, as Yelich took home the first of what could be many Gold Gloves.
The Miami Marlins locked up the 23-year-old with a seven-year, $49.57 million extension just before the regular season began, and that could wind up being an absolute steal.
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SP Alex Wood, Atlanta Braves
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A second-round pick in 2012 out of the nearby University of Georgia, Alex Wood debuted for the Atlanta Braves the following season with a 3.13 ERA in 11 starts and 20 relief appearances.
The left-hander bounced between the rotation and the bullpen once again last season, but he was really at his best when he was starting, going 8-10 with a 2.59 ERA, 1.094 WHIP and 151 strikeouts in 156.1 innings.
All told, he finished the season 11-11 with a 2.78 ERA, 1.142 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 171.2 innings. That was good for 10th in the NL in ERA and 10th in strikeout rate at 8.9 K/9.
The 24-year-old has a rotation spot locked down now, and alongside Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller, he figures to be a key piece of the puzzle for a Braves team going through a stretch of rebuilding.
3B Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners
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The Seattle Mariners selected Kyle Seager in the third round of the 2009 draft, the same draft that saw them take his University of North Carolina teammate Dustin Ackley with the No. 2 overall pick.
They also selected UNC left-hander Brian Moran in the seventh round, as a total of seven players were drafted from that team.
While Ackley popped up on numerous top prospect lists, Kyle Seager never cracked the Baseball America Top 100. In fact, the highest he ever ranked within the organization was as the team's No. 9 prospect heading into the 2011 season.
Four years later and Seager is coming off of a season in which he made his first All-Star appearances, won a Gold Glove and was rewarded with a seven-year, $100 million extension.
A 5.8 WAR last season was good for fourth among third basemen, and his 12.3 WAR over the past three seasons puts him seventh at the position.
Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano may be the faces of the franchise, but Seager is every bit a star in his own right.
SP Anibal Sanchez, Detroit Tigers
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Anibal Sanchez was one of the best pitchers in the game in 2013, going 14-8 and leading the American League with a 2.57 ERA and 2.39 FIP to finish fourth in AL Cy Young voting.
However, he's always been somewhat overshadowed by his own teammates, and few were mentioning him among the top arms in the AL heading into this season.
Whether it was Josh Johnson during his 2010 breakout season with the Marlins, Max Scherzer winning AL Cy Young in 2013 or now new staff ace David Price, Sanchez could never receive the attention he deserved.
It didn't help that he missed a combined 60 games with a finger laceration and a pectoral strain last season, as that limited him to just 126 innings of work.
Healthy once again, Sanchez allowed just three hits with six strikeouts in 6.2 scoreless innings in his season debut. If the Tigers are going to make up for the losses of Scherzer and Rick Porcello, they'll need Sanchez to step up big this season.
LF Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates
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Playing in the same outfield as Andrew McCutchen for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it's easy to overlook just how good Starling Marte is.
Over the past two seasons, his 10.7 WAR is tops among left fielders and the fourth-highest total among all outfielders, trailing only Mike Trout (16.7), McCutchen (14.4) and Carlos Gomez (13.7).
After a subpar first half last season that saw him hit .256/.324/.383 with 94 strikeouts, Marte looked like a different player after the break with a .348/.408/.567 line and just 37 strikeouts.
A full season of his second-half production could make him a MVP candidate, and Jeff Sullivan of Fox Sports agrees.
"Marte has been one of the league leaders in hidden value for a couple of years. He might now be ready to deliver more obvious value, on top of that. More value on top of what Marte already provided is how you build a legitimate MVP candidate. The problem there would just be splitting votes with the other guy, positioned to Marte's left.
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The Pirates wisely locked him up with a six-year, $31 million extension last March, and he'll team with McCutchen and Gregory Polanco to form one of the best outfields in baseball for the foreseeable future.
All stats are courtesy of Baseball-Reference, unless otherwise noted.
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