Today's focus moves over to the NL East a division that will likely be the weakest division in baseball this year, but one that does have a promising future. The Nationals will likely win the division by a slam dunk with the Mets and Phillies potentially in the conversation for a Wild Card spot if everything goes according to plan.
With that being said, here is one underrated player from each of the five teams that compose the NL East.
1. Nationals: Daniel Murphy - You could make a case for several different players on the Nationals roster as being underrated such as Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, or Stephen Strasburg, but for this conversation, Daniel Murphy is the guy. Murphy continually is one of the best offensive second baseman in the league yet gets little to no attention and is a huge reason why the Nationals have been so successful during the regular season the past couple of years. For starters, Murphy has a 12.3 WAR dating back to the 2015 regular season, which is 3rd among second baseman, and has a .367 on-base percentage putting him 4th on the list over that period as well. If you need further proof about how great Murphy truly is, look no further than his .531 slugging percentage that leads all second baseman or his Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) value of 134, which puts him second on the list to only the great, Jose Altuve. Murphy is entering his walk year with the Nationals, but he should get quite a few offers on the open market next winter assuming he is healthy and has another productive year.
2. Mets: Jay Bruce - The Mets made several additions to their team this winter with the signings of Todd Frazier, Anthony Swarzak, Jason Vargas, and Adrian Gonzalez, but they also made an important reunion with right fielder, Jay Bruce. Bruce was traded last year at the deadline to the Cleveland Indians and continues to be a powerful bat among right fielders. Going back to the 2015 regular season, Bruce is tied for fourth, with Bryce Harper, among right fielders with 95 home runs over 1,855 plate appearances and has 287 RBI over that span which puts him third on the list. Defensively, Bruce does not rank well as his Defensive Rating is -32.1, but he does have an Offensive Rating of 10.1 which combines for an overall WAR of 3.7, the last three seasons. Another thing to like about Bruce is his slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers which was .595 over the span of 92 at bats last year. In his second stint with the Mets, it will be interesting to see how he plays and if he receives any criticism from the fans like he did before.
3. Phillies: Carlos Santana - Carlos Santana is entering his first full season with the Phillies organization, but he is not only a great leader to have at first base, he also is a tremendous asset in the clubhouse. Given how young the Phillies positional players are, it's hard to pick someone whose underrated because the track record simply isn't there quite yet for many of them. However, Santana is nothing to sneeze at as his 14.6 walk percentage the past three seasons, ties him third among first baseman with Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals. Furthermore, Santana has 21 stolen bases over the past three seasons, good enough for 6th place on the list, and has an on-base percentage of at least .350 dating back to 2015. The biggest thing to realize about Santana is that he brings a lot of power and that should give Phillies fans something to cheer about as they continue to watch their young team grow and mature together and push towards a postseason berth.
4. Braves: Ender Inciarte - Ender Inciarte is a guy who often times gets lost in the shuffle as far as being one of the best centerfielders in the game right now. Inciarte led the Braves in hits last season (201) and had a batting average three points lower than All-Star first baseman, Freddie Freeman, at .304 over the span of 718 plate appearances. The best part of Inciartes game besides his ability to cover a lot of ground out in centerfield is his speed on the base paths which is illustrated by the 22 stolen bases that he raked up last season, tying him with Mike Trout for fifth place among centerfielders. In addition, Inciarte has a 19.4 Defensive Rating, the past three seasons, putting him 9th among those in centerfield and that is quite a compliment given the depth of the position. Inciarte was acquired from the Dbacks a few seasons ago and will play an integral role both this year and in the future as he helps to make the Braves relevant again.
5. Marlins: Kyle Barraclough - The Marlins might be in a rough time period, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a diamond in the rough in reliever, Kyle Barraclough. Since making his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2015, Barraclough has a cumulative ERA of 2.87 over the span of 163.0 IP and comes with a very impressive strikeouts-per-9 rate of 12.09 over that span. Among relievers, that ties Barraclough for 13th place on the list, and you can't beat his 0.39 home runs-per-9 rate since 2015 either, which ranks fourth among relievers. Furthermore, Barraclough leads all relievers with a fastball-to-home run percentage of 6.0% the past three seasons and has a 2.93 FIP during that time. Barraclough could eventually become a useful trade chip for the Marlins later on down the road, maybe as soon as this July at the trade deadline, because he carries so much value and would help a contender out tremendously come that time. Nonetheless, watch Barraclough carefully this season as he has been one of the standout relievers the past three years and nothing indicates that will stop this season.
Comments
Post a Comment