Most Under-Rated Baseball Player Today

[PhilaYank36]

Prepare for a shock: this Yankees fan votes for Kevin Youkilis. He has a great bat & a great eye at the plate, performs well under pressure and he can play both 3B and 1B competently. I have to give credit where credit is due.

 

[Chi City 81]

This list, like your other, is not to be taken seriously, Yankees-boy.

 

[Sharky22]

Other: Grady Sizemore.

 

[Oz]

Derek Jeter is on a most underrated poll? Wow, that's hilarious.

 

[PhilaYank36]

Fixed

 

[Hammer Pants]

I don't think most casual fans understand how great Todd Helton and Ivan Rodriguez are.

And in the younger generation ... Matt Holliday and Russ Martin.

 

[Hammer Pants]

I don't think most casual fans understand how great Todd Helton and Ivan Rodriguez are.

I don't think Todd Helton is very great at all.

I Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip
+-+------------+----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----
Home 758 730 3281 2723 655 1003 231 23 179 629 496 85 308 24 2 34 39 61 24 13 .368 .465 .667 1.132 .363
Away 739 710 3116 2644 397 782 200 8 113 406 426 71 411 22 1 22 31 66 12 13 .296 .395 .506 .901 .312

Those numbers look OK to me ... Do you penalize other players who play in hitter-friendly parks?

 

[Hammer Pants]

Helton also has three Gold Gloves, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Jones]

Helton needs a Colorado asterisk next to his name, but batting nearly .300 on the road is pretty good... I'm surprised it's that good, actually.

Those numbers are lopsided, but not as lopsided as I would have guessed, is what I'm saying.

 

[sportschick]

James Shields

 

[PhilaYank36]

That's right. While Todd Helton might be a good (very good?) hitter, you really have to take into account the Coors Field-factor and the fact that his power numbers have taken a sharp nose-dive over the last few years.

 

[Hammer Pants]

Those numbers are lopsided, but not as lopsided as I would have guessed, is what I'm saying.

Which is why I think he's underrated. That and the three Gold Gloves. Do we penalize left-handed hitting Yankees for being able to stand on home plate and **** over the right field wall?

 

[PhilaYank36]

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.

 

[Hammer Pants]

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.

 

[Hammer Pants]

Those numbers look OK to me ... Do you penalize other players who play in hitter-friendly parks?

You mean like <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=sandbry01&year=00">this guy</a>?

NOBODY has home-road splits as lopsided as Helton's. Not left-handed Yankees at the Stadium, not right-handed Red Sox at Fenway, not Cubs at Wrigley (even Sandberg), not Astros at Minute Maid.

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.

 

[buckweaver]

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 ****, 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.

 

[kingcreole]

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

See: Carlos Beltran.

 

[BRoth]

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.

 

[buckweaver]

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.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Dan Haren