MLB's All-Underrated Team Heading into 2022 Season
Production doesn't always equal recognition in sports.
Whether it's a standout player thriving in a small market, a pitcher succeeding with less-than-overpowering stuff, a well-rounded player lost in the shuffle of a talented roster, or something else entirely, there are always a handful of players who are underrated.
While we continue to wait on the lockout, let's shine some light on a few underappreciated players with our All-Underrated team.
Players were chosen based on how they are viewed on the national landscape, and while statistics provided the foundation for making each player's case, there was ultimately a fair amount of subjectivity that went into selecting our team.
Let's get to it.
Catcher: Elias Diaz, Colorado Rockies
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Elias Diaz spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, including a 10-homer, 1.7-WAR campaign in 2018, before he joined the Colorado Rockies on a minor-league deal prior to 2020.
After splitting time with Tony Wolters during the shortened season, he took over as the team's primary backstop last year and showed enough to earn a three-year, $14.5 million extension in November.
The 31-year-old posted a 96 OPS+ with 18 doubles, 18 home runs and 44 RBI, and he had an NL-leading 42 percent caught stealing rate behind the plate. His production really picked up after the All-Star break when he hit .274/.330/.536 with 11 home runs in 55 games, and that could be the jumping off point for an even better year.
First Baseman: Ty France, Seattle Mariners
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Thrust into the everyday first base job after Evan White was lost for the year to a hip flexor strain, Ty France made the most of his first extended MLB action to emerge as an under-the-radar contributor for the Seattle Mariners.
The 27-year-old has consistently raked in the minors over the years, but he was blocked on the infield corners in San Diego by Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado. A 2020 deadline trade that sent him to Seattle helped create a long-awaited opportunity.
France hit .291/.368/.445 with 32 doubles, 18 home runs and 73 RBI in 152 games, and his 4.3 WAR ranked sixth among all first basemen—ahead of guys like Pete Alonso (4.2), Yuli Gurriel (3.7), Joey Votto (3.5), Jose Abreu (3.0), Jared Walsh (2.8), Brandon Belt (2.7) and many others.
Second Baseman: Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
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Brandon Lowe has finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting each of the past two seasons following an All-Star appearance as a rookie in 2019, yet he is still rarely mentioned among the game's rising stars.
The 27-year-old posted a 142 OPS+ with 31 doubles, 39 home runs and 4.7 WAR, leading a 100-win Tampa Bay Rays team in each of those categories. He also provides some useful versatility with the ability to man second base and both outfield corners.
During his brief time in the majors, he has logged a 136 OPS+ while averaging 31 doubles, 37 home runs, 104 RBI, 94 runs scored and 5.3 WAR per 162 games, and he is quickly shaping up to be the organization's best homegrown player since Evan Longoria.
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Third Baseman: Jeimer Candelario, Detroit Tigers
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After an ugly 2019 season where he hit .203/.306/.337 for a 70 OPS+ in 386 plate appearances, optimism started to fade that Jeimer Candelario would develop into a long-term piece of the puzzle for the rebuilding Detroit Tigers.
He bounced back with a 137 OPS+ and 2.0 WAR in 52 games during the abridged season, and that proved to be the jumping off point for a true breakout year in 2021.
The 28-year-old hit .271/.351/.443 for a 122 OPS+ while tallying 16 home runs, 67 RBI and an AL-leading 42 doubles. His 3.8 WAR led all Tigers players and was tied for seventh among third basemen. With an influx of young talent on the way, Candelario is now a veteran building block in Detroit.
Shortstop: Nicky Lopez, Kansas City Royals
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There were 226 players who recorded at least 500 plate appearances between the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Nicky Lopez ranked last among that group with a 56 OPS+, posting a punchless .228/.279/.307 line in 594 plate appearances for the Kansas City Royals. That made his 2021 breakout one of the most surprising of the year.
The 26-year-old hit .300/.365/.378 with 29 extra-base hits and 22 steals, and while power is never going to be a significant part of his game, his combination of hit tool, speed and defense (3 DRS, 4.6 UZR/150) were enough to make him a 4.3-WAR player and a potential long-term building block in Kansas City.
A shift back to second base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. is likely at some point, but he'll be the team's starting shortstop until that time comes.
Left Fielder: Mark Canha, New York Mets
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Mark Canha was part of my All-Underrated Team prior to the 2020 season, and two years later he is still not getting the attention he deserves as a versatile defender and on-base machine.
That could soon change with a move to a bigger market, as he signed a two-year, $26.5 million deal with the New York Mets earlier this offseason. Not a bad payday for a guy who was once a Rule 5 pick unable to break through in the Miami Marlins organization.
The 33-year-old posted a 111 OPS+ with 22 doubles, 17 home runs, 61 RBI, 93 runs scored and 12 steals, spending much of the year hitting out of the leadoff spot where his 12.3 percent walk rate was put to good use en route to a .358 on-base percentage. He can play all three outfield spots and first base, and will likely see the bulk of his action in left field in 2022.
Center Fielder: Harrison Bader, St. Louis Cardinals
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Always viewed as an elite defender in center field, Harrison Bader turned a corner offensively during the second half of the 2021 season, and he now looks like a rising star in the St. Louis Cardinals outfield.
A career .235/.322/.399 hitter with a 29.1 percent strikeout rate when the 2021 season began, Bader posted a 116 OPS+ with 21 doubles, 16 home runs, 50 RBI and 45 runs scored in 401 plate appearances last year, and his performance took off after the All-Star break.
Over his final 32 games, he hit .333/.368/.613 with 10 doubles and seven home runs in 117 plate appearances, serving as a catalyst for the Cardinals' late-season surge up the standings and into a playoff spot.
Right Fielder: Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros
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Still only 25 years old, Kyle Tucker is rarely mentioned among baseball's top-tier of young rising stars, but he belongs in that conversation.
The No. 5 pick in the 2015 draft, he hit .294/.359/.557 with 37 doubles, 30 home runs, 92 RBI, 83 runs scored and 14 steals, racking up an impressive 5.7 WAR to trail only Carlos Correa (7.2 WAR) on a Houston Astros team that reached the World Series.
After ranking among the MLB leaders in average exit velocity (85th percentile), hard-hit rate (83rd percentile) and xwOBA (95th percentile) in 2021, his performance looks sustainable. With more of the same, perhaps he'll start to receive the attention he deserves.
Starting Pitcher: Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
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The Miami Marlins have an impressive collection of young pitching talent, and right-hander Sandy Alcantara is the best of the bunch right now as an oft-overlooked ace atop their starting rotation.
Armed with a heavy fastball that averaged 97.6 mph and a wipeout slider that limited opposing hitters to a .189 average and a 38.3 percent whiff rate, his stuff is pure power, and the development of his changeup as a viable third pitch has helped take his game to another level.
The 26-year-old ranked among the NL leaders in ERA (3.19, 13th), WHIP (1.07, 10th), strikeouts (201, 11th) and innings pitched (205.2, fourth), becoming the first Marlins pitcher since Mark Buehrle nine years ago to reach 200 innings.
Starting Pitcher: Frankie Montas, Oakland Athletics
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How many people outside of the Oakland area know that Frankie Montas finished sixth in 2021 AL Cy Young voting?
The burly 6'2", 255-pound right-hander went 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 207 strikeouts in 187 innings, helping to stabilize a starting rotation that leaned heavily on rookies Cole Irvin and James Kaprielian, and was without Chris Bassitt for much for the second half.
The 28-year-old had never pitched more than 96 innings in a season prior to last year, but he had often flashed top-of-the-rotation stuff, so it was the culmination of potential turning into production over a full season's worth of innings.
With a 3.37 FIP that mirrored his ERA, there is no reason to believe he is headed for significant regression.
Starting Pitcher: Tyler Mahle, Cincinnati Reds
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Tyler Mahle checked in at No. 90 on the Baseball America Top 100 prospect list at the start of the 2018 season, but he was something of a forgotten man after posting a 5.06 ERA in 241.2 innings during his first two years in the majors.
The 27-year-old turned a corner during the shortened 2020 season, and those gains carried over to a true breakout performance in 2021. He went 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 210 strikeouts in 180 innings and tallied eight or more strikeouts in 10 of his 33 starts.
Now he just needs to figure out Great American Ball Park.
Mahle was 8-2 with a 2.30 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 18 road starts last year, compared to 5-4 with a 5.63 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 15 starts at home.
Starting Pitcher: Cal Quantrill, Cleveland Guardians
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The No. 8 pick in the 2016 draft and the No. 52 prospect in baseball at the start of the 2018 season, Cal Quantrill has taken a few years to deliver on the lofty expectations that accompanied him at the start of his pro career.
After posting a 5.16 ERA in 103 innings in his MLB debut season in 2019, he was traded to Cleveland midway through 2020 in the nine-player deal that shipped Mike Clevinger to San Diego.
The 27-year-old began the 2021 season in the bullpen before injuries forced him into the starting rotation in the middle of June. Once he settled into his new role, he quickly emerged as one of the most effective starters in the American League, going 8-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 16 starts over the final three months of the season.
Starting Pitcher: Jordan Montgomery, New York Yankees
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Jordan Montgomery was the unsung hero of the New York Yankees pitching staff in 2021.
The 6'6" left-hander posted a 3.83 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 162 strikeouts in 157.1 innings, and he made a career-high 30 starts for an injury-plagued staff saw 15 different pitchers start at least one game and only three guys top 100 innings.
With a changeup as his primary pitch and a low-90s fastball as his hardest offering, he's not overpowering by any means. However, he gets a ton of swings and misses with his soft stuff. His curveball had a 42.9 percent whiff rate, while his changeup was not far behind with a 39.2 percent whiff rate.
On a staff that featured high-priced ace Gerrit Cole, former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, electric young right-hander Luis Severino and fan favorite Nestor Cortes Jr., Montgomery did not get the recognition he deserves as a reliable innings eater.
Relief Pitcher: Jordan Romano, Toronto Blue Jays
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The Toronto Blue Jays signed All-Star closer Kirby Yates to a one-year, $5.5 million deal last offseason in hopes he would make a smooth recovery from the right-elbow injuries that ended his 2020 season.
Instead, arm issues popped up again, and he underwent Tommy John surgery before ever throwing a pitch in Toronto.
While that was a less-than-ideal use of $5.5 million, it did open the door for Jordan Romano to emerge as a lockdown closer and one of the best relievers in baseball during the 2021 season.
The 28-year-old converted 23 of 24 save chances with a 2.14 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 12.1 K/9 in 62 appearances, good for a 2.3-WAR season that ranked in the top 20 among relievers. With club control through the 2025 season, he'll be nailing down saves in Toronto for the foreseeable future.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.
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