2019 First Base Rankings

February 27, 2019

First base enters 2019 at an interesting crossroads. It’s a bit thin at the top in terms of bankable, premium talent, but there’s also a path to it re-taking its perch as one of the deepest positions in the game. It will add the likes of Rhys Hoskins, Daniel Murphy, and Jake Lamb early into the season (the former pair being top 10ers right off the bat once they qualify). Here’s a piece I did with more thoughts on those 1B-to-be. There’s a group of pivotal guys like Max Muncy, Matt Olson, and Jesus Aguilar who could really flip the position at the top while guys like Ryan O’Hearn, Jake Bauers, and Luke Voit are on-the-rise bats who intrigue me.

Podcasts on 1B: Pt. 1; Pt. 2

What’s your strategy at 1B in shallower mixed leagues (10-12 teams)?
What about 15-team NFBC-type leagues?
Who’s your favorite gamble outside of my top 20?

First Base – February

	PLAYER	TEAM	ELIG.*
1	Freddie Freeman	ATL
2	Paul Goldschmidt	STL
3	Anthony Rizzo	CHC
4	Cody Bellinger	LAD	OF
5	Matt Carpenter	STL	3B
6	Joey Votto	CIN
7	Max Muncy	LAD	3B
8	Matt Olson	OAK
9	Jose Abreu	CWS
10	Jesus Aguilar	MIL
11	Miguel Cabrera	DET
12	Edwin Encarnacion	SEA
13	Joey Gallo	TEX	OF
14	Carlos Santana	CLE
15	Jose Martinez	STL	OF
16	Ian Desmond	COL	OF
17	Justin Smoak	TOR
18	Jurickson Profar	OAK	SS/3B
19	Tyler White	HOU
20	Josh Bell	PIT
21	Ryan O’Hearn	KC	OF
22	Jake Bauers	CLE	OF
23	Eric Hosmer	SD
24	Yuli Gurriel	HOU	3B
25	Justin Bour	LAA
26	C.J. Cron	MIN
27	Luke Voit	NYY
28	Yonder Alonso	CWS
29	Marwin Gonzalez	MIN	OF/SS/2B
30	Jay Bruce	SEA	OF
31	Trey Mancini	BAL	OF
32	Ryan Zimmerman	WAS
33	Brandon Belt	SF
34	Greg Bird	NYY
35	Ronald Guzman	TEX
36	Mitch Moreland	BOS
37	Eric Thames	MIL	OF
38	Hunter Dozier	KC
39	Niko Goodrum	DET	2B
40	Peter Alonso	NYM
41	Wilmer Flores	ARI
42	Ryan McMahon	COL
43	Ryon Healy	SEA
44	Tyler Austin	MIN
45	Chris Davis	BAL
46	Matt Adams	WAS
47	Nathaniel Lowe	TB
48	Matt Davidson	TEX
49	Albert Pujols	LAA
50	Peter O’Brien	MIA
51	Neil Walker	MIA

*20+ gm eligibility

40 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

stuck in a slump

5 years ago

Where would Hoskins rank in leagues where he is eligible?

-2

Anon

Reply to stuck in a slump

“It will add the likes of Rhys Hoskins, Daniel Murphy, and Jake Lamb early into the season (the former pair being top 10ers right off the bat once they qualify).”

Reply to Anon

Which then wouldn’t be a pre-season ranking, would it? With Carpenter 5th on this list, it looks a bit different from others that I’ve seen, which makes me curious as to where he would be placed.

Dominikk85member

Well top10 is a huge range.

Robertmember

In the article about 1B to be, Paul says he doesn’t see much of a difference between Hoskins and Bellinger…

LightenUpFGmember

I think this is a legitimate question, as in some leagues he’s already eligible. Plus, in the second base article written by Paul this kind of question has been answered multiple times for various players.

So for consistency, here it is: 4th or 5th. I got this from the article that Paul linked that talked about Hoskins, etc as to where they’d be ranked when eligible. With Paul comparing Hoskins to Bellinger, 4th or 5th it is.