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Fantasy Baseball 2017: First Base Rankings

Ray takes an early look at the first base position for 2017. It's early, sure. But the offseason has begun.

What's going on? Two articles in three days? This is more like it, I have to admit. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can write a bit more this week. Like I mentioned in my early Top 20 Catcher Rankings on Sunday, I will be ranking my top 20 at each position over the next few weeks, then hope to start looking at some players in depth. That is my plan, so if there are specific players you want me to write about, leave it in the comments section below. I will do my best to get to them.

Before I take a look at a few first baseman below, here are my early catcher rankings:

2017 Top 20 Catcher Rankings

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was an early first round pick last season, and will probably be a first round pick once again in 2017, but one has to wonder what happened to the 30+ home run power in his bat this season. All one has to do is look at the huge drop in his fly ball rate, from 35% to 29%, to see why his home run output dropped in 2016. He hit more ground balls this season as well, so maybe some tweaks to his swing are on his offseason agenda. He compensated for the drop in home runs with a huge increase in stolen bases, as he stole 32 bases in 37 attempts, ranking in the top 10 in that category. Could a 30-30 season be in the cards for Goldy in 2017?

Speaking of home run production, who saw Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hitting 34 bombs this season? Certainly not I. Actually, he had the best offensive season of his career, hitting .302 with 34 home runs, 102 runs scored and 91 RBI. How did he do it? He hit more fly balls and made more hard contact than ever. Can he repeat the power in 2017? I think he can. He has steadily improved his fly ball and hard hit profile, and that should continue as he enters his peak years.

Wil Myers hit more home runs than Paul Goldscmidt? In Petco Park? This is why you can't predict baseball and why making bold predictions is so much fun. Myers put up a breakout season in 2016, hitting .259 with 28 home runs, 99 runs scored, 94 RBI and stealing 28 bases in 34 attempts. He is a pretty valuable first baseman and I might just have him ranked too low, but I want to see him repeat his breakout season before pushing him up further.

Remember when Joey Votto was one of the worst hitters in the first two months of the season? Yeah, me too. Well, he finished the season hitting .326 with 29 home runs, 101 runs scored, 97 RBI and 8 stolen bases. To get there, he hit over .400 with 15 home runs, 50+ runs scored and RBI in the second half of the season. Yep, he's STILL one of the best hitters in the game. I wonder what the Reds could get for him in a trade this offseason?

Stats courtesy of Fangraphs

Rank

Name

Team

G

PA

HR

R

RBI

SB

ISO

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

WAR

1

Paul Goldschmidt

Diamondbacks

158

705

24

106

95

32

0.192

0.297

0.411

0.489

0.382

134

4.8

2

Anthony Rizzo

Cubs

155

676

32

94

109

3

0.252

0.292

0.385

0.544

0.391

145

5.1

3

Miguel Cabrera

Tigers

158

679

38

92

108

0

0.247

0.316

0.393

0.563

0.399

152

4.9

4

Edwin Encarnacion

Blue Jays

160

702

42

99

127

2

0.266

0.263

0.357

0.529

0.373

134

3.8

5

Joey Votto

Reds

158

677

29

101

97

8

0.225

0.326

0.434

0.550

0.413

158

5

6

Wil Myers

Padres

157

676

28

99

94

28

0.202

0.259

0.336

0.461

0.341

115

3.7

7

Freddie Freeman

Braves

158

693

34

102

91

6

0.267

0.302

0.400

0.569

0.402

152

6.1

8

Hanley Ramirez

Red Sox

147

620

30

81

111

9

0.219

0.286

0.361

0.505

0.367

127

2.6

9

Eric Hosmer

Royals

158

667

25

80

104

5

0.167

0.266

0.328

0.433

0.326

101

-0.2

10

Chris Davis

Orioles

157

665

38

99

84

1

0.239

0.221

0.332

0.459

0.340

111

2.8

11

Jose Abreu

White Sox

159

695

25

67

100

0

0.175

0.293

0.353

0.468

0.349

118

1.6

12

Carlos Santana

Indians

158

688

34

89

87

5

0.239

0.259

0.366

0.498

0.370

132

3.7

13

Mike Napoli

Indians

150

645

34

92

101

5

0.226

0.239

0.335

0.465

0.343

113

1.1

14

Matt Carpenter

Cardinals

129

566

21

81

68

0

0.235

0.271

0.380

0.505

0.375

135

3.1

15

Adrian Gonzalez

Dodgers

156

633

18

69

90

0

0.150

0.285

0.349

0.435

0.334

112

1.3

16

Chris Carter

Brewers

160

644

41

84

94

3

0.277

0.222

0.321

0.499

0.346

112

1.1

17

Brandon Belt

Giants

156

655

17

77

82

0

0.199

0.275

0.394

0.474

0.374

138

4.3

18

Brad Miller

Rays

152

601

30

73

81

6

0.239

0.243

0.304

0.482

0.333

111

1.9

19

Lucas Duda

Mets

47

172

7

20

23

0

0.183

0.229

0.302

0.412

0.304

91

0.2

20

Josh Bell

Pirates

45

152

3

18

19

0

0.133

0.273

0.368

0.406

0.339

113

-0.2


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