Welcome Back! You made it just in time before we embark on a long awaited journey it seems like right? I can’t wait for all the starting pitchers on my team to make it 4 2/3 innings before they get pulled for their pitch count and I scream for Kolten Wong to stop fouling off balls off Kyle Hendricks so he can at least be in line for the win. I mean I probably only have 1 share of Hendricks but we are a fickle bunch aren’t we.. I know you are excited as much as me for Thursday so thanks for hanging in with us and check out all of the tools at Razzball which are top notch here and worth every penny. All right let’s get down to it some of the first basemen you need to get sooner than later if you still have a draft left or in FAAB if they are available.

Luke Voit- The Luke Voit love is strong out this way and thinks he overperforms his current ADP of 210 in the NFBC main event. I think it’s been well documented he was battling injuries last season and that seems to have been put in the rear view mirror and Voit is all set to DH for his new digs in San Diego. His hard hit rate was still very good at 52.2% while his barrel percentage was at 15.8% and that was his numbers in a bad season for him. I think there is still a level we saw in 2020 where he would have easily hit 30/100 if he would have stayed remotely close to the pace at which he was hitting for power. When Tatis returns Voit will have plenty more opportunities to drive in runs and that will make a lot of the owners that drafted him feel good about picking him.

Anthony Rizzo– Since Rizzo was brought back by the Yankees he has done nothing to think this was a good move by the front office. Rizzo has hit .333 in the spring has looked locked in hitting .333 with an OBP of .438 and .919 OPS. Rizzo has had great plate discipline walking 3 times and only striking out 5 in 32 plate appearances. Although the spring stats don’t mean much it says to me Rizzo is feeling comfortable and ready for the season. Rizzo has an NFBC ADP of 180 and I think he deserves to be right around Ty France at 160. He definitely should be going before his teammate D.J Lemahieu who is going at 130 although drafters are valuing his position flexibility a little high in my opinion as there are other multi-position players after D.J that have more upside.

Spencer Torkelson– There definitely is a move towards getting the kids on the opening day rosters and Torkelson is one of the beneficiaries of this new movement. I’d like to see him move up in the lineup more to 5th at least but the Tigers have a much improved lineup and just got another new addition in Austin Meadows from the Rays to make them even more formidable. The Tigers are becoming what the San Francisco Giants were last year a team that nobody expected to do anything but somehow exceeded all expectations. I’m on the Tiger train for sure this year and will probably have a lot of them in my DFS lineups to start. Torkelson is around 230 ADP in the NFBC and should be going in the area of Luke Voit at 212 and before other 1B such as Bobby Dalbec, Yuli Gurriel, Trey Mancini as Torkelson has the rare 70 grade power rating and simply mashes. If you want to go look at some balls that were just tattooed watch some of his Arizona State homeruns where he broke Barry Bonds HR record as a freshman with 28 in 2018. He has since done nothing to disappoint as he raked across all minor league levels. He also has great pitch recognition and is willing to take walks although let’s keep that to a minimum shall we. He will wear down pitchers as well by fouling off balls until he finds something he likes and then he unloads. I really like the kid and think he will have a great rookie season so don’t be shy about reaching for him a round or two earlier than you think.

Christian Walker- What’s this guy got to do to get a little respect here? NFBC Main Event Drafters weren’t into him as well as early drafters going at a 374 ADP. Some 1B going before him were none other than the likes of Rowdy Tellez (playing time concerns) Keston Hiura (Strikeout Rate through the roof, Yoshi Tsutugo (Batting average .197/.297) the last two years. How on earth are we valuing these players ahead of Walker who will be batting 4th in the lineup (Yes it’s a bad lineup) but still they will score runs and it’s not as bad as you think. Walker has been having a good spring has been driving in runs hitting several extra base hits and is seeing the ball well. I know he seems a little boring and playing for a crappy team isn’t the best look for drafting him but as a bench bat you could do a lot worse and you might even start playing him as a CI a month into the season. Walker spent some time in the off-season altering his swing path which seems to be paying off so far. I think he is definitely worth a pick around 300 where you see Jesus Aguilar go.

Only one day left after you read this than it will be baseball. I hope you have a great rest of your week and enjoy the games! It should be a great season with a lot of young talent in the big leagues and a lot of up and coming teams (Yes you Tigers). I’ll see ya next week for some 3B rankings. Any questions feel free to comment and I’ll get back to you for some last draft or FAAB for next week.