Most underrated player on each National League team heading into 2022

Chicago Cubs: 1B Frank Schwindel

Frank Schwindel had slowly lost his shine from when he was a Kansas City Royals prospect with a ton of hype surrounding him. His truly dominant showings in the Royals’ minor league system in both 2017 and 2018 had him looking like the real deal.

After some poor showings in the Royals, Tigers, and Athletics’ systems, Schwindel found himself in a Chicago Cubs uniform and cemented his place in the “National League’s most underrated players” list.

Schwindel, 29, played in just 56 games for the Cubbies but lit the world on fire during his brief tenure. He quickly became the Cubs’ everyday first baseman and finished his season with 13 home runs, 40 RBI, a .342 batting average and a ludicrous 1.002 OPS and 165 OPS+. Schwindel’s excellent run in the second half of the season earned him a sixth place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Honorable mention: OF Rafael Ortega 103 G, 11 HR, 12 SB, 120 wRC+, 1.6 fWAR in 2021

Cincinnati Reds: 1B Joey Votto

There’s no way to easily explain how exactly Joey Votto is underrated. The guy has done nothing but perform since he debuted all the way back in 2007 for the Cincinnati Reds. The longtime face of the Reds franchise didn’t look himself in 2019 and 2020 was another down year for him. He appeared to be reaching the end of his storied career.

Votto, now 38, had an incredible comeback season last year, ultimately finishing with his best year since 2017. Votto hit 36 home runs, drove in 99 and posted a batting-line of .266/.375/.563. His 136 OPS+ and 3.5 bWAR were also up after his two consecutive so-so seasons.

Somehow, someway, Joey Votto has managed to defy the odds and return to stardom after his age began to show. He will be firmly in the middle of an exciting Reds lineup featuring reigning National League ROTY Jonathan India and the resurgent Jesse Winker in 2022.

Honorable mention: OF Jesse Winker 110 G, 24 HR, 71 RBI, 148 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR in 2021

Milwaukee Brewers: 2B Kolten Wong

Kolten Wong has always possessed double-digit home run and stolen base potential paired with top-of-the-line defense at second base. For some reason, he has still always seemed to skate by without receiving the national attention he deserves.

Wong, 31, joined the Milwaukee Brewers on a two-year free agent deal in February of last season. He immediately made his presence known in the lineup and won over the hearts of all Milwaukeeans.

In 116 games for the Crew in 2021, Wong hit 14 home runs, drove in 50, stole 12 bases and hit a career-high 32 doubles. He remained one of the better defensive second basemen in the game as well; finishing in the 74th percentile in outs above average amongst second basemen.

Honorable mention: LHP Eric Lauer 24 G, 20 GS, 3.19 ERA, 2.3 bWAR, 134 ERA+ in 2021

St. Louis Cardinals: OF Harrison Bader

While St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader has always been regarded as an elite-level defender, he was able to bring his bat around in 2021 as well.

Bader, posted career-highs in nearly every offensive category last year; including home runs (16), RBI (50), batting average (.267), oWAR (2.4) and OPS+ (116). He remained near the very top of the major leagues in defense as well, winning his first career Gold Glove Award and finishing in the 98th percentile in outs above average last year.

Bader has and most likely will continue to be hidden behind sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado with Tyler O’Neill adding himself to that list as well. You can count on him continuing to be amongst the very best in the majors on defense as well as a still-developing bat.

Honorable mention: INF/OF Tommy Edman 159 G, 41 2B, 30 SB, 3.7 bWAR in 2021

Pittsburgh Pirates: RHP David Bednar

The Pittsburgh Pirates seem to have struck gold in their acquisition of relief pitcher David Bednar. In his first season as a Pirate, Bednar put up a 2.23 ERA in 61 games, allowing home runs at just a 0.7 per nine-inning rate, and posting a jaw-dropping 190 ERA+ in 60+ innings.

Looking past surface-level stats, Bednar’s FIP was in the 2.60 range, suggesting that even when you remove fielding factors behind him, he remained a shut-down reliever. On his three main pitches; four-seam fastball, curveball, and splitter, Bednar posted elite-level PLUS% on each one. PLUS% is best described as the amount of times a specific pitch resulted in a positive result for a pitcher i.e strikeouts, foul ball outs, or ball-in-play outs.

Roster Resource projections has Bednar penciled in as the Pirates closer in 2022, a role that he will surely thrive in if he is able to replicate his numbers from this past season.

Honorable mention: 1B/OF Yoshi Tsutsugo 43 G, .535 SLG%, .883 OPS, 136 OPS+ in 2021