3 most underrated Los Angeles Dodgers on 2022 roster

The Los Angeles Dodgers have such a star-studded roster that their diamonds in the rough are often overlooked.

But they shouldn’t be! After all, when you take as many well-reasoned shots in the dark as the Dodgers do, you eventually end up with Max Muncy — as well as two of the names on our “most underrated” list.

LA’s bread and butter has been turning garbage into gold, even more so than overpaying for top talent … though that’s not what folks in San Francisco want to hear. They’d rather think of themselves as the only folks smart enough to unearth talent, while they watch the Dodgers buy titles from their ivory tower.

Uh … joke’s on them.

When compiling our “most underrated” list, we immediately gravitated to one specific area full of plugged gaps, second chances and fist pumps: the bullpen.

After combing through the roster and checking advanced stats/exit velocities, we also chose one other Dodgers addition who’s been playing very well since the day he arrived, but has never quite gotten his just due.

Yes, we know the two specific reasons why. But we’ll do our best to get him his flowers anyway.

Based on 2021 performance and the likelihood it’s replicated in key areas of need for the Dodgers, this trio isn’t getting enough love for what they can provide in 2022 and beyond — as well as the standout performances they’ve already banked.

3 most underrated Dodgers on 2022 roster

3. Alex Vesia

No, he’s not just about the celebrations — though they are pretty fun.

25-year-old Alex Vesia could not have been a more different entity during his first season in Los Angeles than he was during his fan-less 2020 cameo with the Miami Marlins. Who knows? Maybe being 24 was extra daunting for the power lefty. Maybe he’s a reverse Julius Randle — completely unable to perform without a crowd’s noise spurring him on, home or away.

Whatever the case may be, the Dodgers turned a youngster with an 18.69 ERA in five games into a bullpen menace who posted a remarkable 0.975 WHIP with only 17 hits allowed in 40 innings this past season.

Is there a potential for slight regression this season? Sure. Vesia’s FIP of 4.22 doesn’t quite match his remarkable 183 ERA+, proving his actual performance blew the league average mark out of the water. Vesia’s fastball spin, though, is well above average (78th percentile), and there’s a solid chance that he could level up the pitch yet again and maintain his above-average ability to keep people off base and strand them once they do sneak on there.

With a bullpen that’s suddenly thinner than ever — yes, even the 2021 edition that featured a whole bunch of stuff tossed at the wall had Kenley Jansen and Joe Kelly in the back end — Vesia will need to produce more like a seasoned veteran than a surprise star in 2022.

Entering the season, though, there aren’t enough people nationwide who view him as what he really might: a bullpen weapon only a tier below elite options like Blake Treinen.

1. AJ Pollock

No, not Cody Bellinger. His 2021 was appraised very properly, actually. He was quite bad.

Since AJ Pollock signed a four-year, $55 million deal with the Dodgers prior to the 2019 season, spurning the division-rival D-Backs in the process, most of the conversation has been unified around two themes:

1. He’s too injury-prone.
2. He doesn’t perform well in October, so what’s the point?

The first one is, of course, frustratingly true; Pollock played in just 86 games in 2019 and 117 last season, fighting off a number of maladies.

The second one, though, is a classic example of both modern fan mentality and frustration with small sample sizes. Yes, for quite a while, Pollock did rank among the worst statistical October performers of any player who had met his at-bat thresholds. Not good. Nobody wants that black mark on their ledger. But look what happened in 2021, after the numbers stabilized a bit: .273 in the high-pressure NLDS, .381 in the six-game NLCS with two homers and seven RBI.

Is Pollock David Ortiz now? No. Not what we’re saying. But one more series like that, and the narrative should officially be dead and buried. He’s a very good player who knows how to hit, premium pitching included.

Perhaps most importantly … Pollock’s October struggles haven’t disqualified the Dodgers from winning titles, have they? No, not so much. In his three seasons in LA, they’re 1-for-3 in that department.

So, perhaps it’s time to appreciate Pollock, who’s been something close to a five-tool threat when healthy, posting OPS+ marks of 132 and 137 his past two seasons and accruing 3.1 WAR last year in just 384 at-bats. When he’s available — which, we’ll grant you, is not nearly enough — he’s an All-Star left fielder. And he’s earned a bit of a pat on the back for his services.

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