Most Under-Rated Baseball Player Today

I removed Shane Victorino and didn't include James Shields is because they haven't played long enough. All the guys on this list have at least two full seasons in the bigs.

 

Helton's not the only player with decreasing power the past few years...

Is Helton's contract ridiculous? Yes. Have his power numbers gone down? Yes. Is it nice to hit in Coors? Yes. But Helton, I think, is a better overall player than most people think he is, and it's still a joy to watch him hit.

 

I agree that Helton has been tremendously helped by Coors Field ... but I still think he is tremendously underrated as an overall player. He is still a ridiculously tough out no matter what park he steps in. He works the count, hits well to all fields ... he's still a pain in the ass for most pitchers, even with decreasing power.

What about other big-hitting Rockies of the past? Have their splits been as bad? Maybe Helton also hits a lot better when he sleeps in his own bed.

 

Yes. Dante Bichette's <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=bicheda01&year=00">numbers</a> are skewed as shit, too. He sucked everywhere else he played. He gets to Colorado and suddenly he's an MVP candidate.

Sorry, but Helton is a good player whose numbers are tremendously OVERrated because of where he plays. He's not a ridiculously tough out in any park; he's a ridiculously tough out in Denver. He's a .300 hitter with average power everywhere else. Good ... but not even close to great.

At least Larry Walker and Galarraga were both All-Stars in Montreal. Helton's past his prime now, so nobody will know if he would have been an All-Star anywhere else. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he would've been. But I don't think it's a slam dunk, by any means.

 

If Carl Crawford played for New York/Boston/etc., he would be considered one of the premier outfielders in baseball.

See: Carlos Beltran.

 

I can't remember whether it was in one of their books or on their website, but I think Baseball Prospectus did a study of home-away splits for hitters in extreme hitter's ballparks like with Texas and Colorado and they found that no matter who the player, after a while they will start tailoring their hitting to their home ballpark advantages and their split stats get serious skewed toward their home hitting.

Check out Mark Teixeira, Matt Hollidays or others on either team.

Considering this, I think it's pretty damned impressive what Helton has done over the years home and away. While Colorado has really been advantageous for him, it's hard not to believe he wouldn't have been an All-Star elsewhere.

Since he started getting injured and missing games a couple years ago it really seems like he's fallen off the map with the fans.

 

Yeah, Tex's numbers are pretty split, although not to the extreme of the Colorado guys.

But look at someone like Manny Ramirez, who plays in an extremely good right-handed hitter's park in Boston. His numbers are almost exactly even, home and road (granted, he also played 7 seasons in Cleveland, which is a hitter's park but not as favorable as Boston ... or Texas or Colorado.)

I just don't consider Helton to be on close to the same level. He's a good player, an All-Star, whose numbers are tremendously skewed by playing in Denver.

 

Dan Haren

 

Carlos Lee -- tremendously underrated and still just as good as Carlos Beltran.

 

Other: Matt Holliday

 

Copycat.

You a Cubs fanboy looser now, too?

 

Damn, Hammer, missed your Holliday post.


The Cubbies? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!