White Sox: Why is Jose Quintana so underrated?

Apr 3, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

An ESPN article by David Schoenfield listed his current All-Underrated team in MLB, and one of the players on the list was Chicago White Sox left-handed starting pitcher Jose Quintana.

I agree with Schoenfield, who has Quintana as one of his five starting pitchers on the list, because it is true that Quintana doesn’t get the credit he deserves with the success he’s had in his career.

Schoenfield wrote the following in his ESPN Sweet Spot article:

"“Quintana has been one of the best starters in the AL the past two seasons, throwing 200 innings both years with ERAs of 3.51 and 3.32 in a park where fly balls really fly. There’s nothing too fancy about Quintana, but he has a complete repertoire of pitches with a curveball, changeup and slider and knows how to pitch.”"

Is it correct in describing Quintana as a “working man’s” type of pitcher or a “blue collar” type of player on every fifth day he takes the mound? For Quintana, most games the past two seasons he hasn’t had either the best run support or reliever support once he leaves a ball game.

Last season, Quintana’s ERA was 3.32, and even when you look at his Steamer projections for the ’15 season, he’s getting overlooked at the type of pitcher he’s capable of becoming.

Next: Rodon or Anderson: Who is the White Sox top prospect?

The Steamer projections have Quintana finishing with a 3.95 ERA in 182.0 innings pitched. The past two seasons, Quintana has pitched 200 innings with ERAs below the ’15 projections. Also the past two seasons Quintana has had strikeout totals of 164 and 178.

He’s had nine wins in each of the past two seasons, with seven losses in ’13 and 11 losses this past year, but like mentioned before, some of those starts he had no help to back him up in various aspects of the game.

In an article previously written on Southside Showdown, we wrote:

"“Remember, last season the White Sox bullpen lost 21 save opportunities. Think back to last year, with the help of White Sox fan @LarryVonKurtze, who provided the following stats on Quintana when leaving the game with a lead or tie. Quintana had two no decisions in that situations when leaving with the lead. With the score tied, once Quintana left the mound his record was 1-3-6.”"