‘Member the days when I told you that you needed a top 1st basemen and you shouldn’t look for sleepers at this position? Don’t remember? Prolly for best, leave more room in your brain to remember excuses for why you didn’t exercise. Previously, I’d tell you to go to my top 20 1st basemen for 2023 fantasy baseball (not clickbait at all) and draft some top guys and stop fooling around with sleepers at this position. Of course, I’m malleable like Gumby and this year we need to look for sleepers at 1st base *ducks head*. Whoa, someone threw a wrench into this! Fine, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson get my nethers ablaze, but 1st basemen dry up quick. As with other positions like the catchers to target (again, not clickbait), these are 1st basemen that are being drafted late. For the 1st basemen, I’m going with an ADP of 150 or later to be included in this post. Anyway, here’s some 1st basemen to target for 2023 fantasy baseball:
Ryan Mountcastle (Yahoo 154, NFBC 153, ESPN 155) 1st base is a mess, yes, no stress, getting gas at Hess–Sorry, I was applying to be a fantasy baseball poet laureate. So, 1st base is a mess, but there are a lot of “If you take a player’s name away and just show their stats,” you’d struggle to figure out who was being drafted first, i.e., 75/25/82/.253/5 vs. 83/28/84/.235/4. The first one is better than the 2nd. Who’s the first? We’re now joining in progress Mountcastle on BBC for the answer.
“I do believe, Santander, we have a case where the first set of stats don’t actually exist and are a cover for a ghost.”
“Actually, I think their your stats, Mountcastle.”
“Then whose stats are the 2nd statline?”
“Hoskins.”
“Damn it, I knew it! It’s Bob Hoskins!”
“No, Rhys.”
Santander, his trusty assistant, is correct. Hoskins’s projections aren’t as good as Mountcastle, but he’s being drafted 40 spots earlier.
Anthony Rizzo (Yahoo 156, ESPN 152) Draft price to the Izzo! This post is listed under “fantasy baseball sleepers,” but, let’s be honest, if you have an erection for longer than five seconds looking at some of these guys, you should go see a doctor. Speaking of doctors (clunky segue), I went to see my hairdresser the other day. As anyone knows who’s watched me on our Youtube channel, my hair is better than Sampson’s. A dying man once saw my hair and came back to life. With that said, my hairdresser was like, “I had a brain tumor removed three weeks ago,” and I was like, “Holy crap, and you’re already cutting hair again?” And he was like, “Yeah, I just watched some how-to’s on Youtube.” Bro! You’re Youtube’ing how to’s?! And touching my hair?! Any hoo! What I was saying is Rizzo isn’t exciting, but should return value equal to his draft spot.
Jose Miranda (Yahoo 158, ESPN 153) You’re going to see a few sleepers in this post. For unstints, I gave you a Jose Miranda sleeper. I never do 1st basemen sleepers, but, as mentioned briefly in the opening, 1st basemen are not on Normal Time. The position is goofy-as-hell. Goes from Olson at 40 overall to “so you punted your 1st baseman?” To compensate for that, I wrote up some sleepers at 1st base. The problem with Miranda (and Tellez — I’m about to, shut up!) is they don’t have any speed. Well, Tellez looks like if he were rolled down a hill, he might have some speed. Any hoo! No speed means it’s hard to be a huge value grab. What is Miranda’s ceiling? Prolly Jose Abreu, who is going 70 picks earlier. Think 25 homers/.280 is a generous, but realistic line from Miranda.
Ty France (Yahoo 182, NFBC 170, ESPN 169) I hate doing negative when I’m trying to give you some sleepers, but Bahn Mi has zippo speed and very limited power. His big boost could come from average. Shame he doesn’t have middle infield eligibility to connect the MI in Bahn Mi, which is his new nickname I just gave him that I’m going to try to make work for the entire season. Welcome to 2023 baseball: The Year of Me Trying to Make Bahn Mi a Nickname for Ty France.
Alec Bohm (Yahoo 192, NFBC 179, EPSN 185) Alec Bohm’s power ceiling sees Bahn Mi’s power and thinks he’s Aaron Judge. Again, I hate doing negative, but I really don’t understand how a 15/4/.280 hitter is going to end up on any of my teams, but if you need an average boost and don’t have a corner infidel, then Bohm goes the dynamite!
Rowdy Tellez (Yahoo 195, NFBC 162, ESPN 182) The last two went down to Wonky City with me recommending them, but not really loving them. No such problem here. I’m drafting Rowdy Tellez everywhere I can (or anywhere I don’t have Seth Brown, at least). He has .280 average upside. Just absolutely exceptional expected stats. He hits the ball hard. If he hits .280, what does that mean? Well, pretty simply, it means he will be a top 30 overall guy, because it’s going to come with 30+ homers. The difference between him and Matt Olson is 20 points on average and 65 pounds. Also, gave you a Rowdy Tellez sleeper.
Josh Naylor (Yahoo 220, NFBC 223, ESPN 209) I want Josh Naylor to become a thing, but not Bo Naylor. Or Bo Naylor and not Josh. I can’t handle two Naylors. The Luis Garcias have broken my brain. I’m on a deserted beach with an SOS spelled out with a caveat, “Unless this is Luis Garcia, then I don’t want to be saved.” There is a huge swath of 1st basemen like Josh Naylor who will give 20-24 homers, no speed and a .270 average. Before you poo-poo that like you’re in an outhouse, that’s basically Jose Abreu.
Seth Brown (Yahoo 233, NFBC 205, ESPN 204) As mentioned in the Tellez (I’m about to, shut up!) blurb, I also love Seth Brown. The projections systems? Oh, those hate him. Have no idea why. He just hit 25 homers with a bad baseball and the projections are like, “He’s hitting 18.” Um, okay, no idea. In his 1st year, he hit 25 homers in 500 ABs. Can’t, and I’m asking sincerely, anyone ever hit more homers the next year? Oh, and he stole 11 bags. Not sure what the opposite of a brown-out is, but that’s me. Also, gave you a Seth Brown sleeper.
Triston Casas (Yahoo 236, NFBC 235, ESPN 234) This year it was revealed that Casas likes to paint his nails red and sunbathe before games. Triston Casas is Jwow. He also has 30-homer power and might hit .280. Hey, someone from the 2nd half of the draft has to break out, don’t they? Rhetorical! Also, gave you a Triston Casas fantasy.
