Today we transition over to the American League, or more specifically the American League West, for our underrated players series. The AL West is looking like it will be a division ruled by the reigning World Series Champion, Houston Astros, once again unless something completely disastrous happens.
With that being said, here is one underrated player from every team to keep an eye on this year.
1. Houston Astros: Marwin Gonzalez - You really can't go wrong by having a versatile guy like Marwin Gonzalez in your everyday lineup and the Gonzalez was one of the many reasons why the Astros won a World Series Championship last year. Gonzalez finished last season hitting: .303/.377/.530 over 515 plate appearances with 23 home runs, 90 RBI, and 49 walks. In addition, Gonzalez had a 4.3 WAR last season, which is really good, and puts his entire career WAR at 9.5 over the past 6 seasons. Another thing to like about Gonzalez is his fielding ability which shows at every position that he plays. During his 6-year big league career, Gonzalez has a cumulative fielding percentage of .981 over 4,651.1 IP. In the bigger picture, it seems as though Marwin Gonzalez gets lost in the shuffle and doesn't get enough credit for how valuable he really is considering that he can fill-in all over and give impact players critical days off. Gonzalez will likely once again play a tremendous role in the Astros success this season and could very well be the World Series MVP, if Houston, is able to make it that far again.
2. Texas Rangers: Elvis Andrus - Elvis Andrus is coming off a career year, in which he put up 191 hits, 20 home runs and 88 RBI, and had a slugging percentage of .471. In addition, Andrus led the Rangers with a .297 batting average and had a Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) value of 4.4 in 2017. Among shortstops last year, Andrus ranked fifth with a 4.1 WAR, came in fifth with a Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) value of 110, and had the second most plate appearances with 689. If you expand the sample size back to 2015, Andrus has a .335 on-base percentage during that span, which puts him 7th among shortstops, along with 74 stolen bases, good enough for 3rd among that positional player group. With those stats alone, it is obvious that Andrus has become a productive hitter in the Rangers lineup, who can get on base when needed, and also provides plenty of speed on the base paths. Andrus will not only play a pivotal role in the potential success of the Rangers this season, but for the foreseeable future as he is under team control through 2023.
3. Los Angeles Angels: Blake Parker - Part of the reason why the Angels stayed relevant up until the final bell of the 2017 regular season is because of the success of Blake Parker. After picking up Parker from the Brewers off of waivers in December 2016, Parker experienced a tremendous amount of success posting a 2.54 ERA over 67.1 IP along with a strikeouts-per-9 rate of 11.5. In addition, Parker had an Opponents Batting Average Against of .171 last season and a 2.71 FIP. One of the reasons why Parker experienced such a turn around last season is because he relied on his fastball a lot more (19.4% in 2016 compared to 32.1% of the time last year) and his curveball a lot less (23.6% of the time in 2016 versus 7.6% last season). That ultimately ended up playing well and should make Parker a legitimate candidate for another season of success this year as he looks to be a useful weapon at the back of the Angels bullpen. The Angels haven't named a closer yet and Blake Parker could very well be the guy that gets that nod once again after finishing last year with 8 saves over 11 save opportunities.
4. Oakland Athletics: Khris Davis - Year in and year out, Khris Davis, aka Crush Davis, continues to be a legitimate force in the Athletics starting lineup. Dating back to the 2015 regular season, when Davis was still with the Milwaukee Brewers, he has 112 home runs over the span of 1,702 plate appearances, good enough for third place among qualified outfielders, along with 278 RBI, putting him fourth on the list. Furthermore, his .521 slugging percentage, ranks 8th among outfielders over that period. Digging into the data more, Davis has a contact percentage of at least 68% each of the past three seasons, but does come with a high strikeout percentage of at least 58% during that span. While Davis doesn't rank well by any means from a defensive standpoint, he is a legitimate bat that you know will always rake and looks to be in for another season of offensive success this year. With the addition of Stephen Piscotty, to go along with Khris Davis, and the emergence of Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, the A's have a very good group of hitters.
5. Seattle Mariners: Kyle Seager - It seems like every year Kyle Seager continues to put up impressive offensive numbers yet gets little to no credit for what he does because of the greatness at third base with players like Josh Donaldson, Nolan Arenado, and Kris Bryant. Looking over the past three seasons, Seager has a cumulative WAR of 12.8, which ranks 7th among third baseman over that period, and his 83 home runs is good enough for 6th place among those at the position. In addition to impressive offensive numbers the past three seasons, Seager is able to play an incredible amount of defense as well as illustrated by his Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 12.4, going back to 2015, which puts him 6th among third baseman. Furthermore, Seager has 14 Defensive Runs Saved over that span and a cumulative Defensive rating of 19.6, which ranks just behind Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for 6th place on the list. Heading into this season, Seager gives the Mariners another legitimate bat to go along with Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano as Seattle looks to break their playoff drought.
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