Under The Radar

The Hardball Times had a nice short little piece yesterday about baseball's secret star, Andres Torres. Jose Bautista and his homers have caught the attention of many, but Torres continues to perform under the radar. As The Hardball Times illustrates, dating back to his time last year in about one full season's worth of plate appearances, Torres has put up a 127 OPS+ with 29 stolen bases, all while playing a great CF. Even more, if you go to Fangraphs the only CF who has been more productive over the past two full seasons have been Josh Hamilton and Franklin Gutierrez, and they have had much more playing time than Torres!

What's the reason (or partial reason) for his sudden success after age 30?

Apparently the most intriguing backstory regarding Torres is that it wasn't until a few years ago that he was diagnosed with an attention-deficit disorder, and it was upon getting that affliction under control through medication that he's been able to channel his energy, and
his career has taken off.

I don't recall seeing Torres play until he came to the Giants, so I can't offer first-hand observation on a changed plate approach. But apparently that's also part of the story; in the past he was a slap hitter, but with his newfound strength Torres now takes a very full rip. He also exercises first-rate strike zone judgment, nicely working the count. All in all he is one extremely tough out.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but Andres Torres and Jose Bautista have had something to say about that this year. It really seems as though just a slight change in approach can really make all the difference in the world. Angel Pagan and Casey McGehee couldn't stay on the Cubs and now Pagan is a top outfielder and McGehee has 90 RBI playing 2b and 3b, Andres Torres couldn't stay on a roster and has become one of the best CF in the game, Jose Bautista couldn't cut it with the Pirates and he has 40 homers! These aren't really flukes either since there is evidence in their performances last year that point to success this year. So, that got me thinking, who are some other people flying under the radar this year that could gain more attention next year?

Cliff Pennington, SS, Oakland: Pennington has essentially been a league average hitter (99 wRC+) all year while playing great defense at SS (3.9 UZR), culminating in a top 5 overall shortstop. He's young (26) and with slight improvement could be getting the praise he deserves next year.

Luke Scott, OF/1B/DH, Baltimore: Scott has essentially been banging homers all year and nobody seems to be taking notice. In his career he's been above average defensively, and this year only 11 players have a higher wOBA than him. I didn't hear any rumors about him during the trading deadline and I'm not sure if that's because Baltimore knows what it has or because other teams are clueless. If it's because teams are clueless, it may take until next season for people to realize Scott is quite the hitter.

Jerry Hairston Jr., SS, San Diego: Hairston still can't hit, but this year his defensive numbers at SS have been off the charts good, 9.7 UZR which has lead him to 2.3 WAR. There is a reason the Padres are in first place, and it's obviously not all because of Hairston, but clearly he has been a big reason and I haven't heard much about it.

I wish I could predict guys to have breakouts like Bautista, Torres, McGehee, and Pagan but it's quite hard, and for good reason, if it was easy they wouldn't really be surprises! However, the guys above have been putting up good numbers all year and I suspect they will next year likely with more respect and attention. Maybe by September when some players will get a chance to show what they got for another month or so we'll be able to guesstimate some breakouts based on those small samples (i.e. Torres/Pagan 2009), but for now this will have to do.