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:
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 |
155 |
676 |
32 |
94 |
109 |
3 |
0.252 |
0.292 |
0.385 |
0.544 |
0.391 |
145 |
5.1 |
|
|
3 |
Miguel Cabrera |
158 |
679 |
38 |
92 |
108 |
0 |
0.247 |
0.316 |
0.393 |
0.563 |
0.399 |
152 |
4.9 |
|
|
4 |
Edwin Encarnacion |
160 |
702 |
42 |
99 |
127 |
2 |
0.266 |
0.263 |
0.357 |
0.529 |
0.373 |
134 |
3.8 |
|
|
5 |
Joey Votto |
158 |
677 |
29 |
101 |
97 |
8 |
0.225 |
0.326 |
0.434 |
0.550 |
0.413 |
158 |
5 |
|
|
6 |
Wil Myers |
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 |
147 |
620 |
30 |
81 |
111 |
9 |
0.219 |
0.286 |
0.361 |
0.505 |
0.367 |
127 |
2.6 |
|
|
9 |
Eric Hosmer |
158 |
667 |
25 |
80 |
104 |
5 |
0.167 |
0.266 |
0.328 |
0.433 |
0.326 |
101 |
-0.2 |
|
|
10 |
Chris Davis |
157 |
665 |
38 |
99 |
84 |
1 |
0.239 |
0.221 |
0.332 |
0.459 |
0.340 |
111 |
2.8 |
|
|
11 |
Jose Abreu |
159 |
695 |
25 |
67 |
100 |
0 |
0.175 |
0.293 |
0.353 |
0.468 |
0.349 |
118 |
1.6 |
|
|
12 |
Carlos Santana |
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 |
129 |
566 |
21 |
81 |
68 |
0 |
0.235 |
0.271 |
0.380 |
0.505 |
0.375 |
135 |
3.1 |
|
|
15 |
Adrian Gonzalez |
156 |
633 |
18 |
69 |
90 |
0 |
0.150 |
0.285 |
0.349 |
0.435 |
0.334 |
112 |
1.3 |
|
|
16 |
Chris Carter |
160 |
644 |
41 |
84 |
94 |
3 |
0.277 |
0.222 |
0.321 |
0.499 |
0.346 |
112 |
1.1 |
|
|
17 |
Brandon Belt |
156 |
655 |
17 |
77 |
82 |
0 |
0.199 |
0.275 |
0.394 |
0.474 |
0.374 |
138 |
4.3 |
|
|
18 |
Brad Miller |
152 |
601 |
30 |
73 |
81 |
6 |
0.239 |
0.243 |
0.304 |
0.482 |
0.333 |
111 |
1.9 |
|
|
19 |
Lucas Duda |
47 |
172 |
7 |
20 |
23 |
0 |
0.183 |
0.229 |
0.302 |
0.412 |
0.304 |
91 |
0.2 |
|
|
20 |
Josh Bell |
45 |
152 |
3 |
18 |
19 |
0 |
0.133 |
0.273 |
0.368 |
0.406 |
0.339 |
113 |
-0.2 |
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