2012 First Base Tiers: July

With Independence Day in the rear-view mirror and all but two teams (Royals and Nationals) having played their 81st game, it’s time for a midseason update to our first base rankings. Due to popular demand, the catchers (Buster Posey, Mike Napoli, Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana) have been left out of the rankings, ditto the middle infielders (Michael Young and Howie Kendrick). Here are the preseason, May, and June tiers for reference.

Tier One
Joey Votto
Miguel Cabrera
Paul Konerko
Albert Pujols
Prince Fielder

Votto is clearly the better hitter in baseball and at least in the conversation for the best all-around player in the game. Konerko has slowed down a bit since his “minor” wrist procedure but not enough to derail his season or dampened his expected fantasy production. The other three are pretty self-explanatory.

Tier Two
Edwin Encarnacion
Mark Trumbo
Billy Butler
Mark Teixeira
Adrian Gonzalez
Pablo Sandoval
Allen Craig
Mike Morse

Sandoval came back from his injury as did Craig, who’s just been a monster at the plate. Lance Berkman’s eventual return may cut into his playing though, which would be a shame. Both the Cardinals and fantasy owners need that bat in the lineup. Encarnacion and Trumbo give you Tier One production without the track record, though Gonzalez and Teixeira have slid out of that top bracket despite their histories.

Tier Three
Paul Goldschmidt
Adam Dunn
Bryan LaHair
Corey Hart
Kevin Youkilis
Adam LaRoche
Freddie Freeman
Brandon Belt

Belt has grabbed hold of an everyday spot with his production and that’s a good thing for all involved. LaHair has cooled off of late but I still think he’s going to produce enough in the second half to be worth a starting spot. He is just a platoon bat, however. Youkilis has a clear shot at playing time now and although he isn’t the Youk of old, he’s still better than so many first basemen out there.

Tier Four
Lucas Duda
Eric Hosmer
Michael Cuddyer
Ike Davis
Carlos Pena
Anthony Rizzo
Justin Morneau
Kendrys Morales

We’ve gotten to the point where sending Hosmer back to Triple-A has to be a serious consideration, which is sad to see. Rizzo was recalled not too long ago and has done well so far. Davis still isn’t back to being the guy he was before his injury last year, but he’s been substantially better of late.

Tier Five
Garrett Jones
Chris Davis
Mitch Moreland
Yonder Alonso
Carlos Lee
Luke Scott
Mark Reynolds
Todd Helton
Matt Adams
Logan Morrison
Daniel Murphy
Justin Smoak

Lee didn’t jump in the rankings because of the trade, he just came back from his hamstring injury. If anything, the move out of Minute Maid Park will hurt his production. Scott has been brutal since coming off the DL, like no hits in 22 plate appearances brutal. It was nice of Murphy to finally chip in a few homers, that’s always a plus.

Tier Six
Adam Lind
Matt Carpenter
Ty Wigginton
Casey McGehee
James Loney
Shelley Duncan
John Mayberry Jr.
Casey Kotchman
Mike Carp
Jesus Guzman
Juan Rivera

In our spectrum of adequacy, these guys range anywhere from regrettable to participatory.

Off The Radar (injuries, minors, etc.)
Lance Berkman
Ryan Howard
Victor Martinez
Gaby Sanchez
Mat Gamel
Aubrey Huff
Brett Pill
Matt LaPorta
Kila Ka’aihue
Chris Parmelee
Brett Wallace
Daric Barton
Brandon Allen

Puma and Howard will be back before long and there’s a non-zero chance V-Mart will play this year. I don’t think it’ll be enough to justify carrying him in the DL spot all season, however.





Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.

18 Comments
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Nick Swisher
12 years ago

You forgot about me!

Matt NW
12 years ago
Reply to  Nick Swisher

Can I get an amen from those who find Brandon Belt lovers to be a bit annoying? An amen?

Uh… here’s the thing about Brandon Belt — he’s not a good standard 5×5 fantasy player (yet, I guess, but he hasn’t done anything impressive since 2010… and most of that success was at a low level… so I’ll just say he isn’t very good).

The walks are nice in the real thing, but batting in the bottom half of the Giants lineup? Not too good. Too many strikeouts, bad batting average. Limited power in a park that suppresses it.

Over Cuddyer? Hosmer? Not a good call.