Most underrated player on each American League team heading into 2022

Toronto Blue Jays: RHP Alek Manoah

The first team up in the American League East is the Toronto Blue Jays and this one was already a tough decision to make. Relief ace Jordan Romano or shut down rookie Alek Manoah? When lining the numbers up against one another, Manoah is going to edge Romano out.

In Alek Manoah’s first season in the big leagues, the 24-year-old righty looked very, very promising. His MLB debut started things off on a positive note, striking out seven over six innings of work. It was all uphill from there.

Ending 2021 with a 9-2 record, a 3.22 ERA and a shiny 10.24 K/9. Manoah struck out 127 batters over 111 innings of work. If you’re looking to find flaws in his early-showings in the big leagues, you’ll find some; primarily his still-evolving control. Manoah hit 16 batters and walked 3.2 batters per-nine innings, good for an 8.7 BB%; a number he will need to work on moving forward.

The Toronto Blue Jays are an offensive powerhouse. Nearly every position player they have in their starting lineup is a double-digit home run threat. Having the likes of George Springer, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Teoscar Hernandez makes it easy to over-value their offensive and under-value their stellar pitching staff.

Honorable mention: RHP Jordan Romano 62 G, 23 SV, 2.14 ERA, 12.1 SO/9 in 2021

New York Yankees: OF/DH Giancarlo Stanton

How can one of this generation’s best power hitters and owner of one of the sweetest right-handed swings ever possibly be underrated? The short answer is, he plays in New York and Yankees fans can be unforgiving if a player slips up, whether it’s due to injury or poor performance. Once labelled as a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the most popular players in the game, Giancarlo Stanton now lives in the shadows of Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and Gerrit Cole.

When healthy, there is absolutely no doubt about what Giancarlo Stanton can do on a baseball field. Unfortunately for the Yankees-faithful, his health has been the issue so far during his tenure in New York. After missing significant time in both 2019 and 2020, Stanton was finally healthy for the vast majority of a season this past year.

In 2021, Giancarlo Stanton seemed to return to form, hitting 35 home runs and driving in 97 across 579 plate appearances in 139 games. His 137 wRC+, .273 batting average and .516 SLG% were the highest he has put up in a full season since his otherworldly performance back in 2017 as a member of the Marlins.

Honorable mention: LHP Lucas Luetge 57 G, 2.74 ERA, 157 ERA+, 1.9 BB/9, 9.7 SO/9, 1.30 WHIP in 2021

Baltimore Orioles: OF Austin Hays

Hidden behind Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle and Trey Mancini, 25-year-old Austin Hays is heavily slept on when talking about current Baltimore Orioles.

Durability has been a bit of an issue for Hays in the past but in 2021, Hays played his first full season in the big leagues, hitting 22 home runs, driving in 73, putting up 2.4 fWAR, a 106 wRC+, and a .461 SLG%. Steamer projections have him putting up almost an identical performance in the upcoming campaign, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 72 across 136 games.

On defense, Austin Hays is a capable outfielder who can fill it at any position on the grass, but the emergence of Cedric Mullins has pushed him to a corner spot; which ultimately may end up being the best fit for Hays.

Honorable mention: RHP Cole Sulser 60 G, 2.70 ERA, 10.4 SO/9, 1.1 WHIP in 2021

Boston Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock

Raise your hand if you expected Rule 5 Draft-pick Garrett Whitlock to emerge as one of the top relief pitching options in the major leagues last season? Anyone? Didn’t think so.

Whitlock, 25, was used as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues with the Yankees but appeared exclusively out of the bullpen as a long-relief option in 2021, appearing in 46 games, pitching 73.1 innings. Across those 73 innings, Garrett Whitlock struck out 81 while walking just 17, good for a 9.9 SO/9 and 2.1 BB/9. The 6-foot-5 Georgia-native wrapped up the season with a 1.96 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 1.11 WHIP and an ERA+ of 241.

Steamer projections have Garrett Whitlock projected to come back down to Earth somewhat in 2022, posting a 3.76 ERA, 3.64 FIP, while maintaining a 9.00+ SO/9 and a 2.89 BB/9, appearing in 68 games out of the Red Sox bullpen.

Diving deeper into Garrett Whitlock, he is predominantly a three-pitch pitcher, relying heavily on his four-seam fastball and throwing a changeup and curveball as his secondary pitches. Last season, Whitlock posted above-average PLUS% (essentially measuring how often a specific pitch results in a positive result for the pitcher, so a called strike, swinging strike, foul ball, and outs on balls in play) on each of the three pitches including a 51.5% on the fastball, 46% on the changeup and 50% on the curveball – all well above average numbers.

Honorable mention: INF/OF Enrique Hernández 134 G, 20 HR, 60 RBI, .250/.337/.449 slash-line, OPS+ of 107 and wRC+ of 110 in 2021

Tampa Bay Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe

Since his debut in 2018, Brandon Lowe has done it all for the Tampa Bay Rays. His entire stat-line has gradually improved each year that he’s been around, ultimately hitting a crescendo in 2021 in which he played in a career-high 149 games, hit 39 home runs, drove in 99 while scoring 97 runs himself. Lowe was able to put up 5.2 fWAR and a 137 wRC+ and a very nice .863 OPS.

Brandon Lowe made his first career All-Star appearance back in 2019 and 2021 would have been his second career selection but his second-half performance was drastically better than the first-half. The left-handed swinging Lowe finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 2019, eighth in the American League MVP race in 2020, and tenth in the AL MVP race in 2021. He always seems to be in the conversation when it comes to awards, but overall he is a slightly overlooked player.

On defense, Brandon Lowe is capable of bouncing around between second base (his primary position), first base, and both outfield corners. While Lowe is at or slightly-below average on defense at second, his ability to fill multiple spots as needed mixed with his excellent offensive abilities makes him an incredible asset for this Rays lineup.

Steamer projections have Lowe penciled in for a slight regression from last season, but still a great performance in 2022. In 142 games, Lowe is projected to hit 32 home runs, drive in 86 runs, put up 4.2 WAR and a 125 wRC+

Hidden behind the star-power of Wander Franco and Randy Arozarena, Brandon Lowe has been quietly going about his business over the past few seasons, being a well-above-average performer on a Rays lineup that looks to contend year in and year out.

Honorable mention: RHP Drew Rasmussen 35 G 10 GS, 2.84 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.4 fWAR in 2021 between two teams