Like unicorns, leprechauns and Mark Trumbo’s plate discipline, underrated stars are supposed to be a myth. The term itself is contradictory—if someone is a star, they’re both well-known and lauded for their talent in whatever field they’re in. That hardly meets the criteria for the underrated label.
While I can’t speak to horned horses galloping through the forest (or wherever unicorns are supposed to hang out) or tiny men guarding pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, underrated stars—like a selective Trumbo—exist.
They’re not perennial All-Stars—though some should (and hopefully will) make an appearance in San Diego at this year’s Midsummer Classic—and odds are they’re not future Hall of Fame inductees, either.
These are just good baseball players who deserve more attention and adulation than they’re currently getting.
While a player’s current performance matters, we’re also looking for past success as well. This will help to eliminate any one-year wonders (anyone remember Kevin Maas?), but it also eliminates hotshot rookies—like Aledmys Diaz and Trevor Story—from entering the conversation.
Additionally, while we typically include a designated hitter on these teams, that’s not the case here. Why? Because designated hitters tend to be past-their-prime stars like Alex Rodriguez, hardly the kind of player we’d call underrated.
That said, let’s take a look at the 10 players who are deserving of a bigger piece of the spotlight.