MLB: The 10 Most Underrated Players in Baseball
2- Aaron Hill, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks
2012 Stats: .302 AVG, 26 HRS, 93 RS, 85 RBI, 14 SB
Sep. 29, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Aaron Hill (2) doubles to deep left driving in outfielder Adam Eaton (not pictured) during the game against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
When looking up the 2012 stats for Aaron Hill, I asked myself, was there a more complete player in the NL than the Arizona second baseman? Then I saw he finished 26th in the MVP vote, and didn’t make the All Star team and thought, “Am I underselling him by putting him second on my underrated list?”
In his first full season in the desert, Hill shot past Justin Upton as the D-Backs’ best player and never let once let up on NL pitching.
He represents by far the worst trade of Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulo’s career and it’s a crime on how many fans either don’t pay attention to him or still remember him as a flame out from Toronto.
He should be talked about as the second best second baseman in the game and instead, he is an afterthought in most fans’ minds.
1- Ben Zobrist, 2B/SS/3B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays
2012 Stats: .270 AVG, 20 HRS, 88 RS, 74 RBI, 14 SB, 97 BB
How do you become the Kaiser Soze of baseball? The guy who even knowledgeable fans forget?
One way is to play for the Rays, another is to not have a set position, and the third is to be more valuable in the non-traditional sabermetrics stats.
This is Ben Zobrist’s career; he is a myth, a legend, a 20 homer a year guy who plays every position good ,but none great.
He strikes out about a hundred times a year but walks almost at many times.
He’s the guy who would have been a career minor leaguer, or at best, a bench utility guy twenty years ago and still today flies under the radar of almost every
August 25, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Ben Zobrist (18) hits a double in the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Tropicana Field. Oakland Athletics defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
fan.
Zobrist has been one of the most valuable players in the game the past four seasons, he is just as big of a reason for Tampa Bay’s turn around as Evan Longoria and David Price, but because of a lack of an everyday position and a so-so career average of .260, he will go down as perhaps one of the most underrated players of all time.
Just ask yourself, if you were to think who I’d put at number one, how many of you would have picked Zobrist?
Thank you for reading, is there anyone I forgot, anyone you want to me to add, want to say the list is all wrong? I’d love to read your picks in the comments section.