3 Most Underrated Players At Each Position — Third Base

Guardians Third Baseman Jose Ramirez (Photo courtesy of bluejaysnation.com)

Debuting just 16 days before his 21st birthday in 2013, Jose Ramirez is in his 10th season in Major League Baseball, all of them spent with the Guardians. With a career line of .280/.355/.506 with 169 homeruns and a 127 OPS+ over 4,105 plate appearances and 998 games, Jose Ramirez is widely considered to be the best third baseman in the game. Although he is a below average defender at the hot corner, he more than makes up for that with his abilities at the plate. Today, we shine a light on 3 guys that don’t get as much national recognition as Jose Ramirez, and we start with…

3. Austin Riley

Braves Third Baseman Austin Riley (Photo courtesy of tomahawktake.com)

So, it could be considered a stretch to call Austin Riley underrated. But, to this point in his career, even after his monster 2021 that culminated in a World Series ring, he’s mostly flown under the national radar. With a career line of .272/.336/.497, 63 homeruns, and a 114 OPS+ over 1,245 plate appearances and 309 games, the 25 year old has shown that he has what it takes to be a productive part of a Major League lineup for years to come. He did benefit from an immense amount of BABIP luck in 2021, so don’t expect him to repeat the .300 batting average any time soon, but he can still give you 30+ homeruns and play an average defense at third while giving you 3–4 WAR in the middle of the lineup.

2. Alec Bohm

Phillies Third Baseman Alec Bohm (Photo courtesy of thatballsouttahere.com)

First let me say that Alec Bohm is better suited for and is a natural first baseman. However, as they tend to do, the Phillies would rather have Rhys Hoskins at first instead of DHing and Bohm at third, but I digress. Bohm stormed onto the scene in 2020 with a line of .338/.400/.481, 4 homeruns, and a 137 OPS+ over 44 games and 180 plate appearances in route to finishing a close second to Brewers reliever Devin Williams in NL RotY voting that arguably should have been Bohm’s. Coming off a rough 2021 that saw Bohm have the proverbial sophomore slump, he’s showing us this year that 2020 may not have been a fluke. So far this season, he’s off to a .333/.385/.452 start at the plate and has only struck out 7 times through 17 games while leading baseball with 4 sac flies. He won’t give you the power numbers the other 3 guys in today’s piece will give you, but he will hit for average and provides great situational hitting.

1. Matt Chapman

Blue Jays Third Baseman Matt Chapman (Photo courtesy of calltothepen.com)

Finishing off our list today is a guy that may not be on this list again now that he’s moved from small market Oakland to bigger market and World Series contender Toronto, Matt Chapman. Throughout his 6 year career, he carries a line of .243/.328/.475 with 114 homeruns and a 120 OPS+ over 2,461 plate appearances and 592 games. He’s a solid middle of the order bat with 30+ homerun power, along with being the best defensive third baseman in the game, and that list includes Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Now that he’s a part of a contender and in the stacked Blue Jays lineup, he’ll have more of an opportunity to show off his massive power from the right side of the plate, and as stated at the beginning of this paragraph, may not be on this list this time next year.

Let me know on Twitter @TroyBrock1993 who you think is underrated as a third baseman or any of the other positions we’ve covered so far in this series. Those positions include starting pitcher, catcher, first base, and second base. Keep an eye out tomorrow for our next entry in the series when we will cover short stops!