Back in January I made a list of players who I saw as unnoticed stars. This list had eight players who I expected great things out of for 2015 but who most fans had not noticed. Now almost to the all star break here is how they have done so far.
Justin Turner: When I began making this list I had Turner as the second most underrated player but while gathering more evidence for her him I realized he deserved the #1 spot. Turner earned his WAR points in so few plate appearances last season that if that rate was extended to a full year's worth of hitting he would have had a WAR of 8.6 high enough to make the top 10 in every season in history. The most impressive part of this is that so far this year he has continued this rate of production in fact this seasons WAR when adjusted would give him an 8.7 WAR for a full year. Justin Turner has exceeded even my highest expectations for 2015.
Marcel Ozuna has clearly gone the opposite direction of Justin Turner. Last season he was a major reason the Marlins did not have another 100 loss season like they did in 2013. He was turning on inside pitches and crushing one after another to left field however now as pitchers begin seeing him as a major threat the scouting reports have improved. Ozuna doesn't see inside pitches and his ability to go to opposite field on the outside pitch is terrible. That is why he has been sent down to triple A. Hopefully he can work this out and be back strong sometime in the next few months.
Kevin Kiermaier: The decision between Kiermaier and Steve Pearce for 3rd on my list was probably the hardest one I made but I am delighted with how this turned out. So far this year Kiermaier has been one of the best defensive players in baseball with a dWAR of 2.4 well above 2nd place Kevin Pillar whose dWAR is 1.6. He has also been solid offensively. He has gained some power and is leading the league in triples with 9.