Matt Carpenter Regaining Status as One of MLB's Underrated Stars

Being underrated in today’s Major League Baseball is hard to do.

There are websites around every online corner dedicated to breaking down any statistical nuance the game can provide. Player values are as perfectly broken down as they ever have been, and every aspect of the game has its own set of formulaic measurements. Understanding just how good a player is has become as simple as looking at a number.

However, just because we know how good a player is does not mean he cannot be underrated or under the casual fan’s radar. St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter is exactly that, even after a breakout 2013 season and during his current outstanding start in 2015.

“He’s much more aggressive now, doing his own thing. I think Carpenter might be the most underrated player in the game,” USA Today Sports’ veteran baseball writer Bob Nightengale told St. Louis' 101 ESPN radio. “I think this guy is in the top 10, 15 players in Major League Baseball.

“He makes that team go. How he goes, the Cardinals go.”

Fans of the game tend to agree.

"

I'm a Reds fan and this is hard for me to say, but Matt Carpenter has to be the most underrated player in baseball. The guy can do it all.

— Ryan Gilkison (@RyanGilkison) May 18, 2015"

It’s possible people forgot about Carpenter, a fifth-year senior from TCU drafted in the 13th round in 2009. After leading the National League in runs, hits and doubles and finishing fourth in MVP voting in 2013, Carpenter regressed the following year.

His adjusted OPS dropped 30 points to 110. His WAR dropped by 3.6 and into the neighborhood of Jon Jay, Jordy Mercer and Jarrod Dyson, according to ESPN.com. Last season was a disappointing one for Carpenter based on expectations grown out of the previous year.

But through his first 33 games this year, Carpenter is again establishing himself as one of the best hitters in the majors.

He is hitting .328/.391/.619 with a 1.010 OPS. His slugging percentage is sixth highest in the majors and his OPS is eighth. His 16 doubles are second, and his 168 adjusted OPS entering Sunday was fifth in the National League.

Those numbers are big reasons for the Cardinals being third in the league in average (.268), second in OBP (.333), fourth in slugging (.408), third in OPS (.742) and tied for first in doubles (77).

Carpenter is doing all of this from the first or second spot in the order, making him the catalyst the Cardinals’ offense has needed. The team is off to a 25-12 start, the best record in the majors entering Monday, and out to a four-game lead in the NL Central.

Carpenter recently missed a weekend series in Pittsburgh because of extreme fatigue, and the Cardinals went 1-2 in that set. He has not reached base via hit or walk in just three games, helping him lead the team with 28 runs scored, the third-highest total in the NL.

“He really epitomizes what we're all about,” Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt told Nightengale. “What a player, and what a great teammate.”

Still, though, Carpenter is not a star. He is not the most recognizable Cardinal, nor is he even a lock to be a starter in the All-Star Game: The MLB Twitter account is asking fans if he is more worthy of being the National League’s third baseman than Kris Bryant, who had all of 59 plate appearances at the time of the tweet.

"

.@KrisBryant_23. @MattCarp13. Settle the debate – which NL Central 3B is more #ASGWorthy? http://t.co/PAfr0MGFoW pic.twitter.com/oAZm3e8rs5

— MLB (@MLB) May 2, 2015"

That Carpenter is less known than a rookie third baseman in the infancy of his career shows how underrated he actually is. Maybe he has yet to become a household baseball name because he doesn’t play for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers. Maybe it is because he wasn’t a top-flight prospect, or because he doesn’t crack 30 homers a year or have one of the richest contracts in baseball—he actually signed for $1,000, which turned out to be about $500 after taxes.

“The best $1,000 we ever spent,” general manager John Mozeliak told Nightengale.

Carpenter had his own doubts as he entered professional baseball, though. Because of them, he has worked as hard as any player in the game to develop into what he has become, which is one of the most effective offensive players in the sport.

“I don't want to say I had self-doubts, but I guess I never thought I was very good,” Carpenter said to Nightengale. “So I thought I had to really work to achieve. I always thought someone was going to come take my job, or that today is my last game. My mindset was that if I didn't get there, it wasn't going to be because I didn't do everything in my power to do it.”

The Cardinals did not let Carpenter toil in the minors for very long. After just two full minor leagues seasons, the Cardinals brought him up for good in 2012 at age 26. He finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting, and the next season, at an age when players are starting to hit their primes, Carpenter truly arrived as a top-tier hitter who could play three infield positions and in the outfield.

While Carpenter, now 29, is currently floating through his career as a fairly famous stud hitter, his continued success will eventually make him one of the game’s stars—and, possibly, make the Cardinals World Series champions for the 12th time in franchise history.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.