most underrated mlb players of 2000s most underrated mlb players of 2000s

However, lefties Jeremy Affeldt and Lopez were also integral members of the relief corps. Bartlett came to the Rays along with Matt Garza in the deal that sent former top prospect Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins. Top 10 Players of the 1900s 1. The left-hander signed a two-year, $17.5 million contract with the Angels after the 2008 season, but he stands as the best closer in Rockies franchise history. Sievers has the "honor" of being the first man with 300 lifetime home runs not to be elected to baseballs Hall of Fame. Career Stats: 2,328 G; .259/.311/.342; 79 HR; 646 RBI; 2,249 H; 1,181 R; 649-for-898 SB. Two years later, he was in the majors, and he quickly emerged as the staff ace. One of the great leadoff hitters and bunters of the 1980s and early 1990s, Brett Butler somehow only made one All-Star game over his 17-year career. It would be appropriate if when you opened a dictionary and looked up the word pesky that the definition was simply a photo of David Eckstein. 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. Watson is underrated due to his immense contributions to the sport. He went 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 218 innings to finish runner-up in AL Cy Young voting in 2006, and followed that up with a 19-7 record and 3.60 ERA in 199.1 innings the next year before he was sidelined midway through the 2008 campaign. Among Rolens accolades from 2000 through 2009: 48.3 WAR, 127 defensive runs saved and a .285/.368/.497 slash. By the time his career was over, he had become the only player with as many as 2,705 hits before 1975 not elected to baseballs Hall of Fameand only two players, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, had played more games in center field than Doc Cramer. Corey Maggette 10. Jermaine O'Neal 2. Throw in four seasons of at least 100 RBI, and you've got yourself a pretty complete player. The No. Conine wasn't about gaudy numbershe was simply consistent. Its tough for a third baseman if they dont have Mike Schmidts power, George Bretts batting average, or Brooks Robinsons highlight reel glove. A four-time All-Star, Bando led the A's in RBI three times and was the second third baseman in American League history to hit 200 home runs in their career. Ben Oglivie is a perfect example of a player that could have had more impressive career numbers had he been given a chance to play on a daily basis. Yet somehow, Tim Salmon was never named to an All-Star team. 3 overall pick in the 1997 draft out of UCLA, Glaus slugged 35 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A the following year in his pro debut, and he took over as the Anaheim Angels starting third baseman in 1999. 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. Owner of 11 Gold Glove awards, including nine straight from 1993 through 2001, Vizquel only made three All-Star games, due primarily to the fact that he's been overshadowed by those who were more offensively gifted. He had three straight seasons with at least 200 innings pitched, including a 2007 campaign where he went 16-6 with a 3.73 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 218 strikeouts in 231.2 innings to finish fourth in NL Cy Young voting. Injuries kept him from reaching his full potential, but he still quietly launched 320 home runs in 13 seasons, and he won World Series MVP in 2002. He resurfaced with Team Netherlands in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, posting a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 innings over two starts. While he was slowed by injuries throughout his career, Johnson was a bona fide ace when healthy. The only other players with that many trips to the plate and slash stats that high are Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Larry Walker and Manny Ramirez. Eight times in his 17-year career, Sievers hit at least 20 home runs and drove in at least 80 runs, and his 42 home runs and 114 RBI in 1957 as a member of the Washington Senators led the American League. A seven-time All-Star, his 2.48 ERA led the American League in 1985. Here are the best NFL players of all time. Victimized by a lack of run support for most of his career, largely because he was the best pitcher on some awful teams, Stieb's numbers are even more impressive. He debuted in 1997 and earned the first of three All-Star selections in 2000. Career Stats: 1,246 G; .304/.361/.433; 76 HR; 513 RBI; 1,216 H; 535 R; 45-for-69 SB. 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. Arguably the best pitcher in Expos history, an average season for Rogers from 1977 though 1983 was a 15-11 record with a 2.83 ERA, though Dick Williams, his manager from 1977 through part of the 1981 season, was never a fan and routinely questioned whether the right-hander was truly giving a maximum effort. 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. Forgive me if Im wrong, but I believe Hornsby is the only MLB player to hit 40+ homers and bat .400 in the same season. I should clarify. 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. Your Account has been confirmed and activated successfully. It's a mix of forgotten All-Stars, brief peaks, injury-shortened primes and under-the-radar contributors, but all of these players were star-level contributors at one point in the not-so-distant past. Over the next four seasons, Giles would be named to two All-Star teams while posting an average season of .309/.426/.604 with 37 HR, 106 RBI and 10 stolen bases. A five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner at third base, Wallach led the National League in doubles twice and was the first player from Cal-State Fullerton to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. Hisle was a solid all-around player who never really got his due, largely in part to being overshadowed by his more heralded Hall of Fame teammates with the Twins, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. The youngest player to play in an MLB game in 2019 was Elvis Luciano a 19-year-old pitcher Renteria made his MLB debut in 1996 at the age of 19, finishing runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting. All told, he racked up 60.4 WAR in 17 seasons with 393 home runs and 1,199 RBI. 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. Young had a 32-homer, 27-steal season to finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 when he helped the D-backs reach the NLCS. 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. Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe did exactly that on Saturday, responding to a monstrous Tyler Myers hit on Toronto captain John Tavares. The Most Underrated NBA Players of the 2000s Hide 11. However, injuries took a toll from there, and he pitched just 65 more innings in the majors. Career Stats: 1,998 G; .277/.343/.425; 193 HR; 1,007 RBI; 2,020 H; 1,092 R; 341-for-434 SB. After the 1973 season, he was traded to the Tigers. He is the only player to debut with the Marlins in 1993 and play for both of their World Series teams, in 1997 and 2003. Today marks the final installment, for now, of my series about the most underrated baseball player of each decade. Money pitcher. And an obp over .410! Career Stats: 2,063 G; .265/.343/.416; 195 HR; 860 RBI; 1,963 H; 1,123 R; 91-for-151 SB. On the other hand, that little bloop single did win Game 7 of the World Series. He generated down-ballot MVP support three different times, and was an All-Star in 2012 when he hit .324/.394/.540 for a 149 OPS+ with 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 RBI in a 4.6-WAR season. Thus far, Heyward has mostly seemed to offer tantalizing glimpses of what he might become. All rights reserved. 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. I assume Heywards best years are in front of him. Of the 18 players elected to start the 1934 All-Star Game, Berger is the only one not enshrined in the Hall of Fame. He would spend nine seasons with the Brewers, making three All-Star teams and leading the American League in home runs with 41 in 1980. Career Stats: 399 G (393 GS); 158-152; 3.17 ERA; 1.23 WHIP; 2,837 IP; 2,619 H; 1.85 K/BB. Underrated throughout his career, his 60.2 WAR speaks to star-level production. Hornsby fell one homer short of doing it twice. 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. He was terrific once again in 2002 (15-4, 3.28 ERA, 144 K, 164.2 IP) and solid in 2003 (14-13, 4.13 ERA, 161 K, 187.1 IP) before shoulder injuries derailed his career. As the lockout rolls on, sit back and enjoy some nostalgia with this walk down memory lane to highlight some underrated players who were once among the best on their respective team's roster. Winner of seven consecutive Gold Glove awards in center field and a three-time All-Star, Devon White was one of the more underrated players of the past 20 years. There have been just 12 position players worth three or more WAR in each of the last four seasons. Keltner made two outstanding backhanded plays at third to rob DiMaggio, and along with a walk and a ground out, the streak ended. 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. Seemingly every baseball generation has its underrated third basemen. At the time he retired in 1985, his .980 career fielding percentage was the highest career mark for any shortstop, though that's since been surpassed by seven players, including Jimmy Rollins and Troy Tulowitzki, the new record holder. Underrated: Jeff McNeil, Mets When you think of the 2022 Mets, the first players to come to mind are likely Pete Alonso, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, and/or Francisco Lindor. Venable had a quietly effective career with the Padres, logging 13.3 WAR in eight seasons. From 2000-06 the team won 85 games five times but never made the playoffs. From the archive: Outrage when the Yankees sold to CBS, The most underrated players in baseball history | HardballTalk, Maury Wills: Barnstorming with Jackie Robinson and Luke Easter, Analyzing Maury Wills impact on baseball through stolen base opportunities, The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Right fielders, The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Center fielders, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Most of the names you would expect: Andrew McCutchen, Dustin Pedroia, Matt Holliday, Robinson . Graig Nettles and Darrell Evans came up in yesterday's post. SP Cy Young:. Fuentes was an All-Star for three straight seasons from 2005 to 2007, converting 84.7 percent of his save chances en route to a franchise record 115 saves. Otis had power, played excellent defense and had speed, leading the American League with 52 stolen bases in 1971 while also becoming the first player since 1927 to steal five bases in one game. I truly believe Todd Helton is one of the most grossly underrated players of our generation. His only Rookie Cards are in the 1995 Bowman and Bowmans Best releases. Michael Redd 6. Career Stats: 1,286 G; .264/.362/.379; 93 HR; 418 RBI; 1,203 H; 718 R; 200-for-305 SB. We use cookies to help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience. A homegrown star before Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau came along, Koskie made good as a 26th-round pick in the 1994 draft. "The Hal McRae Rule" requires that runners slide into second base when trying to break up a double play, doing away with McRae's favorite movethe cross-body check, something he terrorized American League middle infielders with for years. Tigers' fans remember him fondly for his contributions during their march to the World Series championship in 1968. In 1181 total games in a Blue Jays uniform, Bell slashed .286/.325/.486 with 202 homers and 740 RBI. 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. Dave Parker, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? 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. Now, lets turn our attention to an era still settling. A versatile outfielder who could play all three outfield positions equally well, Jim Northrup spent all but one of his 12 major league seasons wearing a Tigers' uniform. 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. Please enter the verification code that you received on your email. A two-time All-Star, Wynn led the National League in walks twice over the course of his career and hit 20 or more home runs on eight different occasions. During the first six seasons of the 2000s, he hit .292/.406/.584 while averaging 35 home runs, 98 RBI and 6.1 WAR and winning a Gold Glove every year. A seven-time All-Star and one of the smoothest fielding third basemen of the 1940s, Ken Keltner almost single-handedly ended Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Thanks for another fun article. While his power numbers increased in each of his four seasons with the Tigers, from four home runs in 1974 to 21 round-trippers in 1977, Oglivie still wasn't given a chance to start everyday. He would make two All-Star teams as a member of the Twins and lead the American League in RBI with 119 in 1977. SP Christy Mathewson: (236-112, 1.98 ERA, 1.035 WHIP, 1,799 K, 2,996.2 IP) 3. Career Stats: 1,197 G; .273/.347/.452; 166 HR; 674 RBI; 128-for-189 SB. Gil Hodges and the Mets were convinced that Amos Otis was a third baseman. I would go so far as to say his career (career not hit tool) is better than the greatly revered Tony Gwynns (random reference, but it gives perspective) and I dont say that lightly. 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. Part of the excellent Baltimore Orioles teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Don Buford was a relatively unknown leadoff hitter who holds the record for grounding into the fewest double plays per at-bat than anyone else, one every 138 at-bats. 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. While his accomplishments with the Pirates were overshadowed by the exploits of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and even manager Jim Leyland, Bell established himself as one of the better shortstops in the game during his time with the Pirates, overcoming his limited range by putting himself in the right position, depending on the batter. He continued to shuffle roles effectively the next two years before the wheels fell off, but he was a 9.1-WAR player in his first four seasons in the big leagues for some contending Texas teams. In the five seasons that followed a respectable sixth-place finish in 2004 AL Rookie of the Year voting, DeJesus hit .286/.357/.427 for a 107 OPS+ while filling up the stat sheet and averaging 30 doubles, eight triples, 10 home runs, 63 RBI, 79 runs and 2.9 WAR. He certainly has gone all-but-unrewarded since that first season, save for a Gold Glove two years ago. While he began his major league career in 1968, it wasn't until 1969 that a 22-year-old center fielder named Larry Hisle got a chance to play on a daily basis, and he rewarded the Phillies with a solid campaign that resulted in a fourth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. He'd hit another home run off of Kaat in the seventh inning, becoming only the second player in baseball history, at that time, to hit two home runs in his first game. 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. Hal Chase is best remembered for being banned by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis following the 1919 season as rumors ran rampant that Chase, among other things, served as the middleman between the players and gamblers during the Chicago Black Sox scandal. Doc Halladay has been the most consistent pitcher of this decade. Graig Nettles and Darrell Evans came up in yesterdays post. Jones also made three All-Star Games and won . The oldest Major League player to play in a game in 2019 was Ichiro Suzuki at 45-years-old. My thought, by the way, is that many 19th century ballplayers are underrated and that were just re-discovering them via Baseball Reference.). Some might wonder how someone who is enshrined in the Hall of Fame could possibly be underrated, but without a doubt Ron Santo is arguably the most underrated player to ever play the game. 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. Whether it was Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez or Miguel Tejada, Vizquel was always an afterthought when it came to talking about the best shortstops in the game. Indian Bob Johnson never had one of those super seasons that make everyone sit up and whistle. During the 1990s and 2000s, Jones was consistently one of the best hitters in MLB. Career Stats: 1,832 G; .295/.364/.447; 184 HR; 989 RBI; 1,826 H; 802 R; 27-for-55 SB. During Guillen's five-year heyday with the Tigers (2004-2008), he hit .308 with an .870 OPS and 128 OPS+. Career Stats: 1,526 G; .276/.338/.441; 163 HR; 852 RBI; 1,570 H; 737 R; 39-for-72 SB. We throw around words like ballplayers toss around a baseball during pregame warm-ups in the outfield. But with a wiry framehe was 6'2", 160 pounds when the Red Sox drafted himnobody thought he'd be anything more than someone with gap power. To qualify for the All-Underrated Team, a player must have: Zero All-Star selections His 5.5 WAR this season is seventh-best in the majors. Career Stats: 1,672 G; .282/.385/.498; 299 HR; 1,016 RBI; 1,674 H; 986 R; 48-for-90 SB, To most of us he's Tim Salmon, but to those in the know, he's simply known as "King Fish.". 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 . SS Honus Wagner: (.352/.417/.508, 1,847 H, 51 HR, 956 RBI, 1,014 R) 2. Is Bryce Harper the most underrated player in baseball and is Bo Bichette the most overra. Were going with the same concept for this one, but jumping forward to the 2000s. His big-league career was over before he turned 30. Career Stats: 2,247 G; .260/.300/.320; 15 HR; 525 RBI; 2,191 H; 987 R; 318-for-423 SB. 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. Over his career, Beltre racked up over 3,000 hits and nearly made it to 500 home runs. Watson became famous for scoring the 1,000,000th run inMLBhistory on May 4, 1975, narrowly beating Cincinnati's Dave Concepcion for the honor. His 2,043 hits rank 10th all-time among players who played primarily catcher in their career, and his .280 career average speaks to his offensive prowess. A top-25 prospect at the start of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Quentin failed to live up to expectations during his time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He had a 26-homer, 27-steal, 6.3-WAR season in 2001, and his 22.4 WAR from 1999 through the 2004 season ranked 40th among all position players and sixth among third basemen during that stretch. Doug Christie 9. Vizquel hit .280 or better eight times, hit more than 30 doubles four times and led the league in sacrifice hits three times. He would sign with the Diamondbacks as a free agent prior to the 1998 season and, in 2001, scored the World Series-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 when Luis Gonzalez hit a bloop single off of Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera. In seven seasons with the team, he won 70 games and posted a 3.98 ERA (106 ERA+) while leading the league in innings pitched three times and tallying 23 complete games. DeCinces wouldn't have the same kind of memorable moments with the Angels as he did with the Orioles, but he was a solid contributor to the Angels success nonetheless. Honorable mention: Anyone who plays for the As, my girlfriend said after I told her about this project. Roberto Clemente: Almost criminally underrated and had he not died heroically in a plane crash in 1972, he'd be even less remembered. His peak gets lost in the shuffle pitching alongside CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. However, who were the most underrated MLB players of the 2010s? Is Lance Berkman leaning on a beat up old Ford in the Astrodome parking lot? Career Stats: 1,919 G; .291/.319/.391; 57 HR; 941 RBI; 2,158 H; 980 R; 363-for-400 SB*. Probably own at least two of these and flipped through them countless times and never noticed that. Four times he hit over .300, three times he slugged more than 20 home runs and only once did he break the 100 RBI mark. Al Oliver. Andrei Kirilenko 7. Sharing a lineup with Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and slugging middle infielders Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy, he wasn't always a focal point, but he stands as one of the most underrated outfielders of his era. He racked up 18.6 WAR in nine seasons with the team, earning three All-Star selections and peaking as a 6-WAR player in 2006 when he helped the Tigers reach the World Series. At his peak, Edmonds was one of the greatest two-way center fielders in MLB history. He was far from a one-sided player though, being selected to four All-Star games. So Oquendo proved his worth as a super utility player, playing every position except for catcher in 1987 when Cardinals' manager Whitey Herzog dubbed him "the secret weapon." He led the Tigers in hits and RBI, broke up three no-hitters, crushed five grand slams and with Game 7 of the World Series a scoreless tie in the seventh inning, Northrup stroked a two-run double off of the Cardinals' Bob Gibson that wound up being the series-winning hit. Joel is a National MLB Columnist at Bleacher Report who has spent the last decade as a full-time MLB writer. He was also an excellent fielder who held multiple fielding records at the time of his retirement that have since been passed. With an undersized 60 frame, Oswalt slipped all the way to the 23rd round of the 1996 draft where the Houston Astros selected him out of Holmes Community College. Lopez had a 2.47 ERA in 446 regular season outings, along with a 1.38 ERA and nine holds in 25 playoff appearances.