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As always, first base is among our deepest fantasy positions. There's a potential Triple Crown winner at the top, a former one who might be near the top as well if not for an injury. There's six-, eight- and 10-year veterans.
Interestingly, what there isn't on the list, right now, is uber-youth. There are no rookies in our midseason top-30 first basemen. There is only one second-year player, and that's Jose Abreu, who hardly counts. There are only three first basemen in the midseason top 30 with fewer than five years of experience are the aforementioned Abreu and two catchers-in-disguise, Yasmani Grandal and Stephen Vogt.
Now, it's true that first base can be a "where you end up" position — outfielders and third basemen and catchers move there when they can no longer adequately field their original position — meaning there are naturally going to be more-experienced first basemen than some of the other positions. In Keith Law's top 100 to start the season, the highest-ranked first baseman didn't show up until No. 63. In a time with the Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson and Carlos Correa types coming up, we don't have those big-name first basemen on the way.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe Bryant or Joey Gallo or Kyle Schwarber ends up at first base for someone. Maybe Miguel Cabrera plays forever. It's just interesting that, in a year where we've seen every dang prospect in the business come up, first base has been pretty static.
On to the rankings. Everyone eligible at first base in the Yahoo! game was eligible for the rankings. Check it out.
First Base Rankings, rest of season
Rank | Player | Team | Thoughts |
1 | Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | Goldschmidt v. Harper has all the makings of a very interesting MVP race the rest of the way. |
2 | Anthony Rizzo | CHC | He was a superstar before, and now he's basically rocking a 1:1 K:BB ratio. Good times. |
3 | Todd Frazier | CIN | I didn't buy into Frazier after his back-to-back 19-homer seasons, but he's just kept improving. At this point you have to believe. |
4 | Jose Bautista | TOR | I'm a little worried about his shoulder issues, but for now I still think he'll be fine. |
5 | Edwin Encarnacion | TOR | |
6 | Jose Abreu | CHW | So maybe he's not the super-duper star he showed last year. He's still slugging almost .500; he's still really good. |
7 | Adrian Gonzalez | LAD | |
8 | Prince Fielder | TEX | |
9 | Chris Davis | BAL | He's rebounded from his awful 2014, but not to anywhere near his 2013 levels. |
10 | Joey Votto | CIN | |
11 | Albert Pujols | LAA | His season-long line of .256/.325/.538 is good, if unspectacular. Since April, though, it's .272/.336/.593. |
12 | Freddie Freeman | ATL | |
13 | Buster Posey | SFG | |
14 | Eric Hosmer | KAN | After a super-great start to the season, he's struggled a lot of late. The clock is ticking on whether he'll ever realize that potential. |
15 | Miguel Cabrera | DET | Without his injury, Cabrera would be in the top two or three at the position. |
16 | Victor Martinez | DET | Since coming off the DL, he's hit .341/.375/.560. His numbers will climb. |
17 | Jonathan Lucroy | MIL | |
18 | Brandon Belt | SFG | April: .235/.339/.275. May: .339/.405/.670. June: .189/.253/.333. July: .400/.472/.600. Look, you tell me, friend. |
19 | Yasmani Grandal | LAD | |
20 | Mark Teixeira | NYY | It's Teixeira's best season in six years, which is enough to make me forecast at least some regression. |
21 | Brian McCann | NYY | |
22 | Carlos Santana | CLE | |
23 | Adam Lind | MIL | Wherever he ends the season, he's a left-handed masher who should get plenty of play against righties. |
24 | Lucas Duda | NYM | His numbers have plummeted the last couple months. |
25 | Stephen Vogt | OAK | |
26 | Kendrys Morales | KAN | |
27 | Pedro Alvarez | PIT | |
28 | Wilin Rosario | COL | |
29 | Joe Mauer | MIN | There still isn't any power in Mauer's game anymore, but he'll help in batting average, and there will be enough runs and RBI to play. |
30 | David Ortiz | BOS | The home runs have started to show up, ever so slowly. |