Three Most Underrated Players At Each Position — Center Field
What is there to even say about the three time MVP, 2012 AL RotY, nine time All Star, eight time Silver Slugger, and 2 time All Star Game MVP other than, “this dude is the best guy to ever grace a baseball field?” A slew of injuries over the past few seasons kept Trout off the field and, thus, non-productive, but so far this season he has been able to stay healthy and do Mike Trout-like things. Over his unanimous first ballot HoF career to this point, Trout has hit to the tune of .305/.419/.584 with 316 home runs and a 177 OPS+. This season, he’s hitting .307/.430/.625 with 15 extra-base hits and a 212 OPS+ over 107 plate appearances and 25 games. There’s no argument to be had anywhere that Mike Trout is underrated. The following three guys, however, well…
3. Cedric Mullins
27 year old Cedric Mullins is currently in his fifth season in Major League Baseball. He has had his ups and downs throughout his career thus far, but had a breakout season in 2021, his first 162 game season as an everyday player, hitting .291/.360/.518 with 30 home runs and a 137 OPS+. He has gotten off to a slow start this season only hitting .248/.320/.442 with four home runs and a 125 OPS+, but he has still produced enough to accumulate 1.2 bWAR. Playing for the perennialy tanking Orioles will cause a guy to go overlooked, but if Mullins can repeat what he did last year, even as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, he will not be on this list this time next season.
2. Brandon Nimmo
Brandon Nimmo was drafted out of high school in the first round of the 2011 draft by the New York Mets. He made his debut for the Mets at the age of 23 in 2016 and is currently in his seventh season with the team. A second-tier walker, Nimmo holds a career line of .267/.393/.444 with 269 walks and a 131 OPS+ over 1,803 plate appearances and 482 games. He won’t give you much in the batting average department, or hit too many home runs (his single season career high is 17), but he provides excellent defense in a crucial position in the outfield while getting on base just below the levels of Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout. Brandon Nimmo is the type of guy that could see himself on lists like these for the entirety of his career.
1. George Springer
George Springer has been overlooked for the majority of his career as he’s never been the guy on any team he’s played for. While with the Astros, it was Jose Altuve, or Carlos Correa, or Alex Bregman. Now a member of the Blue Jays, it’s Vladamir Guerrero Jr., or Bo Bichette, or even Matt Chapman now. But, George Springer is quietly one of the top 20 players in baseball year in and year out. With a career line of .269/.359/.498 with 202 home runs and a 133 OPS+ over 4,028 plate appearances and 902 games, Springer consistently puts up All Star level numbers all while being the third or fourth guy thought of in the lineup. He has finished a season with an OPS+ under 120 only once, in 2018, and it was still 114, 14% better than league average. By no means should George Springer be on this list, but until he is regularly mentioned with the likes of Ronald Acuna, Byron Buxton, and Trout, he’ll comfortably reside at number one on this list.
Let me know on Twitter @TroyBrock1993 who you think is underrated as a center fielder or any of the other positions we’ve covered so far in this series. Those positions include starting pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. I also have a new podcast out now, The Baseball Fanatic! New episodes drop on Mondays and Thursdays and are kept short so they can be listened to during your commute or work breaks. Keep an eye out for our next entry in the series when we will cover right fielders!
