MLB: The Five Most Unsung Players in the National League
The MLB pennant races are taking shape, and every contending has at least one unsung player that has helped put them in the thick of it. Who are the most surprising in the NL?
Entering play on Thursday, the National League boasts at least nine teams that have a realistic shot at making the playoffs. Divisional races are heating up and the wild card standings are beginning to mean something. And as is the case in every Major League Baseball season, big-time performances are being put up seemingly out of nowhere by players on contending teams.
For teams to be successful, stars must play like stars, whether we’re talking about Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals, or Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. But every star needs a supporting cast as well, and across MLB there is a host of unsung players that are helping to drive their teams’ playoff pushes.
Whether it’s a young pitcher flashing onto the stage, a veteran hurler finally putting it all together, a utility man who always seems to come up in the clutch, or a power surge from a guy no one outside his team’s town has ever heard of before, each contender has at least one of these unlikely heroes busting out of obscurity and into the spotlight.
So who are the most surprising? Let’s take a look at the NL’s five most unsung players.
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Wilson Ramos
After spending five years trying to establish himself as an everyday big league catcher, Wilson Ramos has solidified himself as one of the best in the game the past two seasons. But with Bryce Harper as a teammate, and being on the receiving end of the likes of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, anonymity is easy to come by.
Ramos garnered his first All-Star appearance this season, and has a slash line of .326/.373/.535 with 20 doubles, 19 home runs, 67 RBIs, an OPS+ of 137, and a bWAR of 3.0 for the best team in the National League not located in Chicago.
By the end of the season, he will have set career highs in virtually every statistical category, and is pushing established stars like Posey and Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals for the mantle of best catcher in the senior circuit.
For the position, the Nats rank first in the NL in a host of stats, including OPS and bWAR, and Wilson is the reason. He’s also the receiver for the pitching staff that ranks second in ERA, ERA+, and FIP, while posting above average metrics defensively. It’s difficult to imagine the Nationals holding such a commanding lead in the NL East against the defending World Series runners up in New York without him.
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Martin Prado
The Miami Marlins are currently trailing the Nationals by 9.5 games in the NL East, but find themselves just just 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot. A big reason they’re in this position has been the play of the 32-year old Martin Prado.
While the now-injured Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Fernandez, and Dee Gordon tend to garner most of the headlines for Miami, Prado has been steady all season, posting a .327/.380/.446 slash line with 27 doubles, seven home runs, 57 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 125. The two-time former All-Star with the Atlanta Braves has been worth 3.3 bWAR, which trails only Fernandez and Christian Yelich for the team lead.
Prado is riding a seven-game hitting streak currently, and has hit safely in 26 of the 33 games he has played in since the All-Star break. His batting average entering play on Friday is good for third in the National League, and his 149 hits are just two off the pace Arizona’s Jean Segura is setting for the league lead.
Miami is coming off three consecutive losses to the Cincinnati Reds, and has a brutal schedule the rest of the way that includes series with contenders such as the Pirates, Indians, Dodgers, Mets, and Nats, so the margin for error is slim if the club hopes to make the postseason for the first time since 2003.
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Brandon Moss
At 64-56 entering Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals currently hold a one game lead for the NL’s second wild card spot. This despite a litany of injuries that have befallen the team throughout the season, including Matt Holliday, Matt Adams, and Aledmys Diaz.
Brandon Moss has been able to pick up a great deal of the offensive slack since returning himself from a monthlong stint on the DL, slashing .306/.343/.629 with five homers and 14 RBIs in 15 August games. For the season, the 32-year old has bounced back from a poor 2015 to put up a .267/.344/.580 slash line with 22 longballs and 54 driven in.
The returns of Adams and Holliday in 2016 are pretty much out the window, and Diaz won’t be back until sometime in September, if at all. Thus, if the Cards are to reach the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, Moss will need to continue anchoring the middle of the order and making up for a lot of lost pop.
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Justin Turner
When Clayton Kershaw hit the disabled list in late June, did anyone think the Los Angeles Dodgers would survive, much less thrive, without him? Perhaps the biggest surprise in the NL in 2016 is the fact that, entering Friday, the Dodgers hold a half game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the West.
Justin Turner, who is overshadowed at Chavez Ravine by the likes of Kershaw, probable NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, Adrian Gonzalez, and the media circus that is (now Triple-A outfielder) Yasiel Puig, got off to a slow start this season, but has been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball in the second half.
The 31-year old redhead is slashing .278/.345/.516 for the year, with career-highs of 23 homers and 72 RBIs, good for a 131 OPS+ and a 4.1 bWAR that is seventh in the league among position players. In 27 games since the all-star break, those number skyrocket to .339/.383/.705 with 10 home runs and 28 driven in.
Without Turner’s offensive explosion, it’s pretty easy to assume that LA wouldn’t be sitting atop the NL West standings. And to stay there, it will likely require the looming free agent to keep up his torrid pace.
Next: Unsung at Wrigley
Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks
Given the amount of media coverage the Chicago Cubs have received going all the way back to spring training, it seems impossible that any member of the club could be considered unsung or underappreciated. But that’s precisely what 2/5ths of the Cubs’ starting rotation have been for much of the 2016 campaign.
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In a rotation that boasts Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, and John Lackey, Jason Hammel and Kyle Kendricks have flown under the radar while both being among the best pitchers, statistically speaking, in the NL. Both are ranked in the top ten in the league in a number of categories, yet rarely are either of them mentioned.
For the season, the 26-year old Hendricks has the NL’s second-best ERA, trailing only Kershaw, at 2.19, and boasts a 1.007 WHIP and 184 ERA+. Hammel, at 33, has a 2.75 ERA, 1.065 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 147. In the ERA+ rankings, both are ahead of their three other rotation mates.
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Chicago is running away with not only the NL Central Division, but with the race for the best record in all of baseball. With an offense that boasts stars like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, and the aforementioned star-studded starting rotation, it’s been easy for Hammel and Hendricks to avoid the spotlight. But the Cubs undoubtedly would not be where they are without them.