Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers on teammate Kyle Tucker: "The most criminally underrated player in baseball"

Houston Astros Gold Glove right fielder Kyle Tucker may be the best player most fans don't know all that much about.

The 26-year-old All-Star is in his sixth season with the Astros, having made his MLB debut in 2018. He debuted one year after Houston won its first World Series championship.

Kyle Tucker didn't exactly set the league on fire early on. He only played in 50 combined games with the Houston Astros in 2018 and 2019. However, he found a regular place in the team's outfield in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, hitting .268 with a major league-leading six triples in his first full (albeit, truncated) campaign.

In 2021, however, Tucker really turned it on. He hit .294 with 30 home runs and 92 RBIs that season, finishing 20th in the American League Most Valuable Player voting.

In 2022, he hit 30 home runs again. While his batting average dipped to .257, he drove in 107 RBIs to go with 25 stolen bases — up 11 from the year before. He made his first All-Star Game appearance, placed 15th in the MVP vote, and was awarded a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess. He also earned a World Series ring.

He was named to Team USA for this spring's World Baseball Classic and played an integral role in the squad's runner-up finish to Team Japan.

And yet, in April 2023, his name doesn't immediately pop to mind for many when they think of great outfielders in the game today.

Kyle Tucker's teammate with the Houston Astros, pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., is stupefied with how much of an unknown the team's right fielder remains.

He told The Athletic:

"I think he's the most criminally underrated player in baseball."

Tucker's teammates on the 2022 World Series championship team agreed. Many feel that his understated "team first" nature conspires with the Astros' locker room, being so chock-full of established stars over his time with the team to keep him mostly overlooked.

McCullers said:

"You put this guy in a different uniform, other places, he would be one of the faces of the game."

Kyle Tucker a rock for the Houston Astros

Kyle Tucker #30 of the Houston Astros rounds the bases on a solo home run

Kyle Tucker sports a career WAR of 13.7 and has just truly come into his own over the past couple of seasons. He doesn't have a single part of his game that pops out on a stat sheet, but when taking into account his body of work — .270 career batting average, 78 home runs, 275 RBI, 58 steals — over 423 MLB games, his true value becomes obvious.