Underrated Starting 9 - National League

The aim of this post is to highlight who I think are the most underrated players in the National League and form a starting team with them. I hope that by reading this, you guys will look at some players you may not have heard of and realize how good some of these guys are. The 1 rule I will use for this: I will keep players to the position they make most of their starts at, (example: No Pujols at 3B). Alright here goes, and let me know what you guys think in the comments section or at my twitter (twitter.com/kalen182)

Pitcher - Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco Giants - I know I know, you are saying, Ryan who? Well let me enlighten you, Vogelsong was drafted by the Giants, then traded to the Pirates as part of the deal that sent Jason Schmidt to the Giants, injuries and lackluster performance stunted Vogelsong in Pittsburgh. Was essentially out of Baseball, then gets a call from the Angels for their minor league team, then in the offseason the Giants bring in Vogelsong. He had a strong spring training, and Barry Zito going down early in the season opened the door for Vogelsong. And how has he done since? He has pitched 53.2 innings, an ERA of 1.68 and a WHIP of an insane 1.04, with a record of 4-1. I just had to go with Vogelsong because, not only am I a homer, but the odds of him pitching this well was so incredibly unlikely. He truly is one of the better stories in Baseball today.

Ryan Vogelsong of the San Francisco Giants has maybe been the biggest surprise of Baseball.

Catcher - Ramon Hernandez, Cincinnati Reds - There are some great catchers in the National League (Yadier Molina, Brian McCann, Buster Posey), there are some great hitters for the Reds (Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Philips), what do these 2 lists have in common? They are both missing the name Ramon Hernandez. You will be shocked when I tell you his numbers; .320 AVG, .385 OBP, 7 HR, 17 RBI and a crazy .541 Slugging. He has 60 less AB's then most of the other top catchers, which is why his RBI numbers are lower. He is a 13 year veteran and knows all the ins and outs of the position. Having Votto and Bruce in the lineup helps, but don't discount how good Hernandez has been this year.

1st Base - Gaby Sanchez, Florida Marlins - Where do the Marlins keep coming up with these guys? Miguel Cabrera a few years ago, Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton and now Gaby Sanchez. This year Gaby has exploded on to the scene and is destined for a trip to the All Star game, if not this year then soon. .321 AVG, .394 OBP with 10 Homers and 38 RBI. He provides unexpected power and can hit the long ball off the best pitchers in the game. He along with Stanton have really picked up the slack, while Hanley Ramirez has been struggling early this season.

Florida Marlins 1B Gaby Sanchez is just another hitter to come up from the Marlins Farm System

2nd Base - Freddy Sanchez, San Francisco Giants - The Giants have had an unfair amount of injuries to key hitters (Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval), since these guys have gone down hurt, Sanchez has been the most consistent hitter. In an offense that really lacks....good hitters, Freddy has provided the spark to get the key hits to win close games. So far with almost no help in the lineup Freddy has batted a very respectable - .294 AVG, 3 HR, 23 RBI and a .335 OBP. One of the things that most often gets overlooked with Freddy is his defense, he plays great defense, it doesn't always look good but he gets the job done.

Short Stop - Ryan Theriot, St. Louis Cardinals - One of the better lead off men in the game, he spent 5 years with the bad luck Cubs, now with St. Louis he has exploded. Batting .300 and playing very underrated defense. Theriot has come up with clutch hits when the Cardinals need it most, which they have since Pujols started out slow and Holliday being injured.

3rd Base - Ryan Roberts, Arizona Diamondbacks - The D-Backs, have been one of the biggest surprises this season, and one of the reasons for this has been the play of Roberts. It was a tough decision between Roberts and Chase Headley of the Padres, but Roberts has just slightly lower AVG and OBP, but hits for much more power (8 HR's for Roberts and 1 for Headley) and strikes out less too (30 for RR and 41 for CH). The D-Backs will need him to keep playing well if they wanna compete with the SF Giants going forward in this season.

Left Field - Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves - Prado is a guy who gets overlooked way too regularly, one of the better defensive outfielders in the game and has been hitting for surprising power this season. If you project his current numbers to 162 games, he would hit for 22 HR's and 89 RBI. Not bad from a guy who gets forgotten so often, that is until your team plays the Braves.

Center Field - Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates - Although he is about the only guy people know from the Pirates, a lot of people barely know the Pirates exist. 18 straight losing seasons will do that to a team. However the Pirates have been hovering around .500 and that has largely been down to the play of McCutchen. While the Pirates have been pitching better (Kevin Correia and Charlie Morton), McCutchen is the spark plug to the hitting. Of any of the consistent starters, he (McCutchen) has the highest AVG, OBP, HR's and Hits. Only Neil Walker has more RBI. Pretty impressive.

With the weight of a struggling franchise on his shoulders, Andrew McCutchen has been a 'hit' in Pittsburgh becoming the face of the franchise.

Right Field - Hunter Pence, Houston Astros - The fact that Pence plays for the bottom feeder Houston Astros is why he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Pence is quietly having a great season, batting: .310 AVG, 8 HR, 44 RBI and .353 OBP. Not only this but Pence is extremely athletic and has great baseball instincts, which makes him an excellent fielder and baserunner. Any team would be lucky to have a guy like Pence manning RF.

Random Facts I discovered after picking all the players: 3 players are named Ryan, 2 have the last name Sanchez and all of them (yes ALL of them) bat right handed. None of them are even switch hitters.

I didn't make this team to be an effective lineup, just the players at each position who I feel are the most underrated. Of course this is just my opinion, and I look forward to hearing all your guys' thoughts on my starting 9 and who you guys would go with.

American League Version coming soon.