The first season of the new rules flashed signs of new life in the MLB. It gave new life to players struggling to get on base with the shift rule taking over so many of their singles. But with new rules came with outrageous rule breaking! 2023 was the first year a played reached the 40hr/70sb club which belonged to star NL MVP Ronald Acuna who achieved the feature a year after recovering from serious leg trauma. It was also the year a shortstop qualified for the batting title with .346 coming from Corey Seager, something that hasn’t been done since Alex Rodriguez. It was also the year of 2x MVP winner Shohei Ohtani becoming the richest man in all of pro sports with his massive $700 million contract. These players truly highlighted the success of this season but let’s not forget the troopers who still put up a show who may not have been recognized for the success they brought to their ball clubs this year. Not every player can win sliver slugger, not every can make it to the all star break, and certainly not all can win MVP but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a plethora of players who dominate the nightlights. Here are the top ten players of the season who were most under appreciated.

  10. Jason Heyward RF Dodgers

Jason Heyward being on this list is quite the surprise. Heyward looked like his career was over in 2022 after the Cubs released him due to constantly being injury riddled and a weak bench bat. The Dodgers decided to reunite Heyward with old teammate Freddie Freeman and gave him a minor league deal with an option to MLB Spring Training. After letting go of Cody Bellinger the Dodgers took a swing on old proven talent and with a little Dodgers Magic revitalized Heyward’s career. He took over Mookie’s RF position moving him over to 2B. In a shared OF role with Chris Taylor he slashed .269/.340/.473 for an above average OPS of .813, first time he had an OPS above .800 since he was a Brave in 2012, and first time he was hitting above league average since 2015 with the Cardinals. He had 15 homers and 90 hits in 124 games played. The Dodgers definitely helped Heyward adjust his mechanics as he just earned another year in Dodgers blue and becomes the next man up to reign right field.

  9. Mitch Garver DH Rangers

Mitch Garver known for his electric 2019 seasons as Twins catcher where he hit over 30 homers and helping set the MLB record for most home runs for a team with 307. Since that season Garver has been sluggish behind the plate, and with injuries hasn’t been able to play more than 90 games since 2018. Nonetheless his role with the Rangers was a less significant role as Jonah Heim was the main catcher, Garver was the easy DH for the team. In 87 games a most since 2019, slashed 19 home runs, and .270/.370.500/.870 and hit 34% better than league average. He proved himself worthy as he helped the Rangers achieve their first World Series in franchise history! He definitely gets overlooked in the DH department.

  8. Spencer Steer 1B Reds

Spencer Steer was originally apart of the Tyler Mahle trade that sent Mahle to the Twins. Steer was overlooked over accompanied by Christian Encarnancion Strand didn’t seem to be a strong hitter has completely blossomed into a strong 1B going into 2024. He started 2022 off weak but came into 2023 slashing .271/.356./.464 for an .820 OPS. He was 19% better than league aver He took over Joey Votto 1B position and looks to have it for the foreseeable future.

  7. Wade Miley RHP Brewers

Wade Miley is criminally underrated. He has clearly been one of the best pitchers in the game since 2018 and his numbers speak for him! Taking away his crappy 2020 season where he posted a 5.68 ERA, Miley has averaged a 3.20 ERA since 2018. This would be his 4th ball club in 6 years and he has looked great as always. In his age 36 season he had a 9-4 record, 3.14 ERA and posted an ERA+ 37% above league average. He is a workhorse and dominates the mound, going to the Brewers helped revamp his stuff+ to become an even better mechanically minded pitcher. 120 innings pitched is his lowest innings pitched since 2018, but it doesn’t matter in those innings he proved himself worthwhile. He clearly deserves to be on this list.

  6. Spenser Torkelson 1B Tigers

After being taken 1st overall in the 2020 draft, he had one pleasing minor league season in 2021 before slumping down badly with extreme poor performance. 2022 was very disappointing for the star prospect. He barely slashed above .200 and had an OPS well below league average .604. A season to forgot for sure and boy did he make the most of 2023. He started off the season a little slow but ended it on fantastic terms. He had 30 home runs and 94 RBIs in a tigers lineup that was heavily depleted and weak. He was a strong power hitter and slashed .233/ .313/.446 for a league average OPS of .758 for an OPS+ 5% better than average. Though the advanced peripherals don’t really say much about the type of hitter he was. He proved himself worthy of #1 overall pick.

  5. Chris Martin RHP Red Sox

Chris Martin was ELECTRIC. This was easily one of the better seasons a relief pitcher had since Zach Britton had a .54 ERA with the orioles. Martin signed a 2 year deal with the Red Sox last winter and after this season proved to be a serious steal. Martin established himself as one of the best setup men in a. historically hitter friendly park in the Fenway confounds. Pitching in 52 innings and 3 saves, he played in 55 games with a. 4-1 record and 1.05 ERA. He was 334% better than league average with a remarkable 434 OPS+. Martin finished with a 3.2 WAR, finished behind Rafaeal Devers as the second best player on the Sox. It is seriously hard for a pitcher to maintain a WAR above 3, nonetheless a RELIEF PITCHER who has less innings to prove themselves. When a relief pitcher finishes in the top 12 in CY Young voting you know he had a damm fine season! Martin most certainly deserves to be in the top 5.

  4. Yainer Diaz Astros Catcher

Easily a very underrated catcher is Yainer Diaz of the Astros. The catching postion has been very ugly for the Astros as they’ve prioritized defensive wizard Martin Maldonado to be the mainstay catcher since 2018. In a 104 games he put up a slash line of .282/.308/.538 for an OPS of .846 and was 28% better than league average. 104 games gave him 100 hits and 23 home runs and 60 RBIs with a top 5 finish in ROY. He proved himself to be a long stay of the Astros core.

3.   Lane Thomas LF Nationals

Starting the top 3 off right with the biggest snubs in the game. Lane Thomas easily deserves this, with a season as great as it was it was not as rewarding as it should have been as he was left off all star ballots. Originally coming from the Cardinals the Nationals traded cash for him back in 2021 after he stunk with the red birds. Apart of the trio of Cardinals outfielders who were let go and proved themselves on their ball clubs; Adolis Garcia, Randy Arozarena and Thomas, Lane Thomas surely made the Cardinals regret letting him go. He had a career year with 86 RBIS and 28 Homeruns. He had 168 hits and 101 runs, both were top 5 in the NL in offensive categories. He slashed .268/.315/.468 for an OPS+ 14% above league average. He was easily the best player on the 100 loss Nationals squad and he proved himself as a capable MLB OF and one that should not revisit this list again next year!

  2. Isaac Paredes 3B Rays

Laughing from the Rays absolute fleece job they scored off the Tigers in the Austin Meadows trade. It seemed that the Rays finally got outnumbered in their trades as Meadows just put up a 30hr and 106 RBI season with Tampa and seemed destined to repeat. Well after being traded to the Tigers he was a stick of himself and ended up not playing due to anxiety disorder. On the other side of the spectrum, Parades made a name for himself in Tropicana. He put up a 4.2 WAR and was easily the most valuable player on the Rays this year, he had 31 homers and 98 RBIS, he played all across the infield from first to second to third where he resided the most in the season. he slashed .250/.352/.488 for the season and was 31% better than league average with 131 OPS+. Terrific steal of a trade to bring Parades in. He is very underrated and would be #1 if not for the steal of the show.

1. Nolan Jones RF Rockies

No one would have expected Nolan Jones to claim #1 best underrated star but alas his season in Denver was one to remember. Take away the crapshoot sayings of “Coors Effect” “The Wind helps power numbers” Erase those fro your mind and just appreciate the stardom of Nolan Jones. Yes, it clearly makes a difference but in a season as horrible as the Rockies had, Jones did not really have much run support for the season he had. Jones did not just come out of thin air, he was traded from the Guardians in 2022 for nothing. Jones was an electric prospect and was very hyped up, but with the recent acquisition of Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals and other minor league infielders there was no room for Nolan Jones to explode on the scene in Missouri. Luckily the Rockies swept in and claimed another ‘Nolan’ to the land in the mountains. Although Jones would not be playing his original position of 3B he moved to the OF where he ran all positions but mainly stayed put at right field. In the one season with Colorado, he had a 4.3 WAR, and slashed .297/.389/.542/.931 for an OPS+ 38% above league average. He played in 106 games and demolished expectations and gave him a top 4 finish in NL ROY. After 39 games in triple AAA Colorado he was beyond insane. He slashed .356/.481/.711 for OPS of 1.193 53 hits and 42 RBIS In 39 games gave the FO the utmost confidence he would survive in Denver and he certainly did. He was clear and the best the #1 best player on the Rockies 2023 and clearly the best overall most under appreciated player this season!

Baseball has shown us anything is possible, anyone can defy any expectations they have of themselves and to never doubt any moves the front office makes. Even if these moves don’t look attractive at first glance you never know the magic and power these players can bring to you ball clubs!