Every team has a player who might not be getting the recognition merited by his play, either on a national level or from his own team. Here are the league's biggest unsung heroes, one for every team.
American League
Baltimore Orioles: LHP Richard Bleier. The Orioles lefty is putting up a line from the dead ball era: an 11.5 percent strikeout rate, a 3 percent walk rate and no homers allowed in 32 innings. Not much is going right for the O's this season, but the bullpen has been decent, and Bleier has played a big role.
Boston Red Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland. On a loaded Sox squad, Moreland has been one the league's best hitters with a .287/.362/.569 line, including 10 homers in fewer than 200 plate appearances. The lefty first baseman appears to have rebounded after two below-average seasons.
Chicago White Sox: 1B Jose Abreu. The first baseman might not fit the typical definition of unsung given his status around the league, but as the White Sox continue their rebuild, it is worth mentioning that Abreu continues to produce at a high level. His line of .295/.351/.519 is nearly identical to his career averages.
Cleveland Indians: RHP Mike Clevinger. In a rotation stocked with the likes of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer, Clevinger doesn't get a ton of attention. His strikeout numbers aren't as eye-popping as last season's, but his 3.46 FIP and 3.31 ERA are both in the AL's top 15.
Detroit Tigers: CF Leonys Martin. The 30-year-old journeyman has long been known for his defense, with his offense about 20 percent below average for his career. This season he's using his speed and newfound power to smack 23 extra-base hits and is worth nearly two wins above replacement already.
Houston Astros: C Max Stassi. It's difficult to find an unsung player among the defending World Champions, but the backup catcher seems suitable here. Stassi has more plate appearances this season than in five previous MLB seasons combined, and he has taken advantage: His batting line is 30 percent better than league average.
Kansas City Royals: RHP Brad Keller. A Rule 5 pick by the Reds, Keller was immediately traded to the Royals and put in the bullpen, where a 60 percent ground ball rate has helped him keep the ball in the park. Keller is getting a shot at the rotation for the rebuilding Royals, with solid results through two starts.
Los Angeles Angels: RHP Jaime Barria. The Angels' sixth starter has been optioned to the minors four times this year. He has made just seven starts, but he has pitched well, with a 3.87 FIP and 2.48 ERA. His starts provided Shohei Ohtani with needed rest, and the 21-year-old's importance should rise now that Ohtani is on the shelf.
Minnesota Twins: INF Eduardo Escobar. In his past four seasons, Escobar carved out a role for himself, playing in more than 100 games each season but never cracking 500 plate appearances. Jorge Polanco's suspension and Miguel Sano's injury have given Escobar a full-time role that will be difficult to relinquish now that he is producing a .288/.339/.562 slash line.
New York Yankees: OF Brett Gardner. Hitting leadoff for the Yankees, it's Gardner's job to get on base. With a 12 percent walk rate and .366 OBP, Gardner has been up to the task. Add good baserunning and defense and Gardner is entering his second decade as a Yankee in good form.
Oakland Athletics: 2B Jed Lowrie. The 34-year-old has cooled off a bit since his hot start, but Oakland's second baseman remains one of the team's top hitters, with a .280/.346/.459 line on the season. He's one of the reasons the club is above .500 this season.
Seattle Mariners: SS Jean Segura. Segura is hardly an unknown to Mariners fans, but he is having a fantastic season that might not be getting enough notice. As a shortstop, he ranks fourth in fWAR behind Francisco Lindor, Andrelton Simmons and Manny Machado, but at the same time, his 2.6 fWAR is 12th among all position players in baseball.
Tampa Bay Rays: 3B Matt Duffy. After breaking out in 2015 for the Giants, Duffy was awful in 2016 and injured for all of 2017. He has been neither for the Rays this season, putting up a .314/.350/.412 line while in the unenviable position of taking over at third base after the departure of Evan Longoria.
Texas Rangers: INF Jurickson Profar. The former top prospect is still just 25 years old, and he has done an admirable job filling in for Elvis Andrus. He has played all four infield positions as well as a few innings in the outfield. His ceiling isn't what it once was, but he's playing a difficult position with a league-average bat.
Toronto Blue Jays: INF Yangervis Solarte. Solarte has started more than 20 games at both second base and third, adding five at shortstop for an injury-riddled Toronto infield. He's hitting above league average, and his 12 homers so far give him a good shot to crack 20 for the first time in his career.
National League
Arizona Diamondbacks: UT Daniel Descalso. Entering the season, Descalso was the very definition of replacement-level, with 0.6 fWAR in more than 2,000 plate appearances across eight seasons. This season he has added some pop to his game, with a .515 slugging percentage while starting at four positions and nearly tripling his career WAR total.
Atlanta Braves: RHP Dan Winkler. With a 1.03 ERA and 1.31 FIP on the season, the only reliever with better marks in both statistics until Monday was Josh Hader (Hader's blown save against the Cubs made all the difference). The 28-year-old righty is striking out 37 percent of batters in support of the Braves' surprisingly strong start.
Chicago Cubs: CF Albert Almora Jr. The Cubs' center fielder has started about two out of every three games and has made the most of his playing time. He has a .371 OBP that ranks fourth among MLB center fielders with at least 150 plate appearances. With solid defense, he's filling the only question mark the Cubs had on the position-player side coming into the season.
Cincinnati Reds: 2B Scooter Gennett. A four-homer game last season looked to be a fluke, but since that epic performance, Gennett has hit 32 more homers in a season's worth of work. With Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez, the Reds join the Red Sox as the only teams with three of the top 20 hitters in baseball by wRC+.
Colorado Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland. Jon Gray is the Rockies' ace, but it is Freeland who leads the team in innings and ERA. The lefty was solid a season ago but has increased his strikeouts by 5 percentage points while lowering his walk rate and averaging six innings per start -- no easy feat in Colorado.
Los Angeles Dodgers: SS/CF Chris Taylor. Journeyman Max Muncy is lighting the world on fire for some reason, but last year's version of Muncy is proving that his 2017 breakout wasn't a fluke. Taylor is roughly 20 percent above league average again, with a double-digit walk rate and solid power, and he's the only player in baseball with at least 25 starts in both center field and at shortstop.
Miami Marlins: 2B Starlin Castro. Castro probably didn't want to leave the Yankees in the Giancarlo Stanton trade, but he's putting up a solid season in Miami. For the first time in his career, he's taking a walk every once in a while, and he's on pace for his best season since 2014, when he was worth 3.2 fWAR.
Milwaukee Brewers: 1B Jesus Aguilar. The Brewers' first baseman had a decent year with the bat in a part-time role in 2017, but this season the 27-year-old has taken his game to another level. He has hit 11 homers in fewer than 200 plate appearances, and his 136 wRC+ leads all Milwaukee players with more than 100 plate appearances.
New York Mets: RHP Zack Wheeler. Wheeler is a bit of a forgotten man, with Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard heading the rotation and Wheeler's injuries limiting him to 86⅓ IP combined the past three seasons. Before Tuesday night's loss to the Braves, he had struck out 24 batters against just five walks in 25 innings over his four previous starts, with a 2.52 ERA.
Philadelphia Phillies: 2B Cesar Hernandez. If you were to guess who the Phillies' best hitter and WAR leader among position players was, it might take a few tries before you got to Hernandez. He's an underrated player having another really good season.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 3B Colin Moran. One of the pieces the Pirates acquired from the Astros when they dealt Gerrit Cole, Moran doesn't have numbers that blow you away, but an above-average walk rate, a low strikeout total and a bit of pop are just what Pittsburgh needed to stabilize the hot corner.
St. Louis Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas. Leading the Cardinals in innings (85⅓) and ERA (2.43), the free-agent bargain has stabilized the back end of the Cardinals' rotation by pitching like someone at the front. He has walked just 2.7 percent of all batters, tied with Corey Kluber among starting pitchers.
San Diego Padres: RHP Adam Cimber. The Padres have one of the best bullpens in baseball this season, and while Brad Hand, Craig Stammen and Kirby Yates have been excellent, Cimber has also made it tough on hitters, yielding just six walks against 42 strikeouts without giving up a home run. His 1.30 FIP is second in baseball, behind that of Josh Hader.
San Francisco Giants: OF Gorkys Hernandez. His 30 percent strikeout rate and a BABIP of .387 probably won't last, but Hernandez is hitting .289/.344/.463 and playing all three outfield positions to help keep the Giants afloat.
Washington Nationals: 1B/LF Matt Adams. Adams signed on for a part-time role in the offseason, but with Ryan Zimmerman out the past month, Adams has stepped up. He's hitting for more power than at any time during his career, with 13 homers already, and his 147 wRC+ leads the Nationals among players with at least 150 plate appearances.