Is it news when a general manager calls one of his players underrated? Should it be? Brewers GM Doug Melvin voiced concerns to Jayson Stark last week about the national coverage of Jean Segura. "I see people talk about the [Jurickson] Profars and even the Dee Gordons," Melvin said. "But they never talk about him. He's an exciting player." Putting aside Melvin's obvious vested interest in Segura, let's give the man what he wants by highlighting his shortstop.

Segura is indeed an exciting player. The 23-year-old is the youngest standout on a surprisingly fun Milwaukee roster. His .349/.386/.470 line entering play on Monday translated into the fifth-best True Average amongst shortstops with 50-plus plate appearances, and his stellar play is one of the causes behind the Brewers' recent surge. Why then is Segura overlooked in favor of the world's supply of Profars and even the Gordons? Presumably due to a combination of three reasons: 1) He plays in Milwaukee; 2) He lacks the elite ceiling of Profar; and 3) He lacks an elite tool, unlike Gordon. What Segura has—a wide and deep skill set—is more than enough to make up for those perceived flaws.

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Joe Mauer turned 30 last week. He celebrated early with back-to-back four-hit games before his birthday. Ho hum. So it is with Mauer, who is one of the best hitters of his generation, and perhaps one not fully appreciated. Let's be clear: Mauer is not a superstar doing dogsbody tasks. The former no. 1 pick front-manned advertisement campaigns for video games, anti-dandruff shampoo, and Pepsi products in the past—practically the holy trinity for teenage males. People know who Mauer is. He's made All-Star Games, won Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, and took him the 2009 MVP trophy.

You remember Mauer's MVP credentials. He batted .365 and homered 28 times while catching in 109 games. In retrospect, that season set the bar too high. Mauer has hit .318 with 24 home runs since. Diminished numbers when compared to his best; dominant numbers when compared to most every other catcher's best. Mauer remains a top-notch offensive backstop—and yes, he remains a catcher. His approach at the plate is easy and impressive. So easy and natural it can go overlooked. 

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On April 8 Astros manager Bo Porter pulled J.D. Martinez from the game after a fourth-inning at-bat. Afterward neither Porter nor Martinez divulged the intricacies of the yanking, though Martinez did offer a hint, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle:

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James McDonald made his third start of the season on Monday night. It wasn't pretty. Although the Cardinals managed to run into two outs on the bases, McDonald exited after 1 2/3 innings, equalling the shortest start of his career. The quick trip to the showers came after a so-so start against the Diamondbacks and a strong season-opening effort versus the Cubs. 

Dizzying reversals of trends are nothing new for the Pirates' right-hander. Despite finishing the past two seasons with the same amount of innings and same ERA+, McDonald has been too inconsistent for comfort's sake. Take last season's odd tale of two halves. He looked on his way to a strong campaign after allowing 31 runs over 110 first-half innings. But something fell out of sort in the second half and caused McDonald to allow 54 runs over his final 61 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio folded in half and his ERA more than doubled.

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The Blue Jays are dealing with a tumultuous start to their season. R.A. Dickey and Josh Johnson have endured rough starts, Jose Bautista's biggest blast involved umpires, and, on Friday night, Jose Reyes suffered a severely sprained ankle. The injury will cost Reyes potentially the next three months and opens a spot on the roster for Munenori Kawasaki, who hit .192/.257/.202 last season for the Mariners. Everything that could go wrong is seemingly going wrong. But were there warning signs about the quality of the Jays' roster even before Reyes' injury?

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Remember that piece back in December about Coco Crisp's tendency to steal bases before the pitcher begins to comes home with the pitch? Last night another Athletics outfielder, Chris Young, paid homage against Joe Blanton. Here are some visuals. First Young when he starts to run compared to Blanton:

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Tuesday, like the night before it, featured an unusual sequence of called strikes. The weirdness happened during the ninth inning of the Brewers-Cubs game. Newly appointed Chicago closer Kyuji Fujikawa started his shift against Milwaukee outfielder Logan Schafer. After missing high with a fastball to begin the at-bat, Fujikawa recovered to throw three consecutive fastballs for called strikes en route to a leadoff strikeout. If only it were that simple.

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Last weekend the Twins and Orioles met in Baltimore for a three-game set. Of the various subplots to come from the series—including the O's losing two more one-run games—the one with the most long-term impact could be the continued struggles of Manny Machado and Aaron Hicks, two young, gifted players with the potential to have long, glamorous careers but who are currently playing below their expectations.

Although technically no longer a rookie, Machado remains the youngest everyday player in the American League. His play last season—as a 20-year-old inserted into a postseason race—obscured this fact, save for a rough postseason. However, Machado's 6-for-30 start to the new year is bringing it back into focus. He's almost unfathomably young and that makes him a difficult player to evaluate during times of extreme play. Think of it as the Mike Trout corollary: highly skilled youth are capable of what their numbers say they are until they aren't. 

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