Today’s journey through the recaps take us to the 1st basemen. They’re better than the top 20 catchers for 2026 fantasy baseball (not clickbait), but by how much? How do I explain that? I have an idea! By recapping them! To recap my recap before the recap, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This is not for next year. Hayzeus Cristo, just enjoy a recap before we get into next year. Anyway, here’s the top 20 1st basemen for 2026 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Ben Rice – See his recap at the top 20 catchers for 2026 fantasy baseball.
2. Pete Alonso – Any ideas who was the top 1st baseman last year? You guessed it because you’re in his blurb, it was Albombso! Ya know what’s interesting, any other 1st baseman on a generational run like Albombso and he’d be drafted in the top 20 overall, but Alonso never is. By generational run, I mean Alonso’s been solid for a handful of years and still gets zero love (relatively). Vlad Jr. has one good year every five years and he’s drafted before Alonso. Nick Kurtz — I love Nick Kurtz — but Nick Kurtz was coming off a half of a first season and was drafted before Alonso on average. I even ranked Kurtz in front of Alonso. That was dumb. I’m a big dummy, said like Redd Foxx. Preseason Rank #3, 2026 Projections: 93/40/112/.252/2 in 592 ABs, Final Numbers: 100/43/113/.267/5 in 602 ABs
3. Miguel Vargas – Talked with BDon a bit about Vargas in the final podcasts, and how everything looks legit for him. This is a real breakout. With one small caveat. (No caveats, man! C’mon!). Sorry, parenthetical aside, but Vargas is not a 20-steal guy, but also Josh Naylor isn’t either, so Vargas could be a 20-steal guy, or just randomly fall back to his usual five-steal speed. Only thing that really concerns me about his season is his launch angle is fly ball heavy. White Sox, as a team, could be coached by Adam Dunn. Preseason Rank #38, 2026 Projections: 67/18/77/.229/4 in 527 ABs, Final Numbers: 106/33/93/.250/22 in 588 ABs
4. Sal Stewart – First basemen bounced back in a huge way this year. It seemed like a position that was dying on the vine with its giant veneers and reliance on counting stats, but almost all of these top 20 are in the top 100 overall on the Player Rater. That’s insane. If you had a league where 20 1st basemen went in the top 100, I’d wonder if everyone thought they only had draft 1st basemen. To give you a comparison, 19 1st basemen are in the top 100, and only nine shortstops (two-way tie at 100, so barely inside the top 100). Member that former deep position? As for Stewart, this says so much: He had the most successful challenges this year. Vets with insane plate discipline like Bryce Harper were behind him. By a lot! Preseason Rank #16, 2026 Projections: 63/26/71/.241/6 in 488 ABs, Final Numbers: 87/32/111/.263/15 in 623 ABs
5. Matt Olson – Ya know what’s pretty funny that’s not funny? I was counting down Olson’s homers all year to my preseason projection 35, but I must’ve Mandela Effect’d that because my projections were 33 homers. El oh el, I’m very dumb. Preseason Rank #6, 2026 Projections: 92/33/103/.255/1 in 604 ABs, Final Numbers: 99/41/93/.251/4 in 625 ABs
6. Alec Burleson – I don’t know how you account for a situation like Burleson’s season (sounds like a Disney song), and I don’t think you can(to). There’s going to be some just random outliers some years for counting stats. Burleson basically did exactly what I expected, except for 30+ more RBIs. Zero way to account for that, and I really liked Burleson, and wrote a sleeper for him the previous year. Call him Alec Ribbieson. (And watch how dated that sounds next year when he has 70-ish RBIs.) Preseason Rank #14, 2026 Projections: 77/20/81/.286/6 in 502 ABs, Final Numbers: 89/26/116/.279/4 in 605 ABs
7. Rafael Devers – It feels disingenuous to take a dubya for nailing Dever’s projections and ranking when he would’ve blown them away if he didn’t stop playing a couple weeks ago, but I’m above taking an ill-earned dubya? I’m Grey Ill-Earned Dubya Albright. Preseason Rank #7, 2026 Projections: 94/33/106/.244/1 in 579 ABs, Final Numbers: 88/37/98/.258 in 558 ABs
8. Bryce Harper – Regarding what I was saying in the Sal Stewart blurb about 1st basemen bouncing back, it was really the vets coming through. If I’m being honest, I kinda felt like Bryce was a meh pick. Nothing like Vlad Jr. at all! At the end of the day, I kinda nailed Harper’s projections and ranking. In general, I sorta nailed the 1st basemen, outside from the three unranked guys. Preseason Rank #8, 2026 Projections: 81/26/85/.267/10 in 507 ABs, Final Numbers: 93/29/87/.269/7 in 577 ABs
9. Jake Bauers – I’m doing these recaps as you read them, so I don’t know if Bauers is the top ranking guy who wasn’t ranked at all. (I think) It’s very close between Bauers and Louis Varland. Bauers makes me think maybe the Brewers aren’t great at coaching up their pitchers, but are great at coaching up everyone. Or they’re cheating by lowering the ceiling when the opposing team hits. Bauers’s HardHit% went way up; his fly balls came down and squared up a lot more while being more selective. Might be confirmation bias or some other Psych 101 term, but it feels like all areas that could’ve been coached up. I am a pretty big fan of this current incarnation of the Brewers (they were my preseason pick to win the World Series). Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 93/26/86/.266/11 in 477 ABs
10. Yandy Diaz – Al Brawn feels like a chalk pick every year. Write him down for .290 and 20-ish homers in the preseason, and watch him go. With that said, I went to see if there’s any chance he gets to 3,000 hits in his career, and, yeah, if he plays until he’s 67 years old. He likely could’ve done 20/.290 when he first turned pro in 2014 at 22, but he didn’t have his first full year in the majors until 2021 at 29! Al Brawn is 35. Can’t even blame the Rays; Guards kept him in the minors for six years as he hit .320 every year. Preseason Rank #13, 2026 Projections: 79/17/71/.304/2 in 567 ABs, Final Numbers: 93/22/85/.293/3 in 614 ABs
11. Luis Garcia Jr. – Started this chant a few years ago when I wrote a Luis Garcia Jr. sleeper post for him in 2024, and now it’s sweeping the country. LuGaJu, they’re chanting in stadiums. LuGaJu, they’re chanting in buses and subways. LuGaJu, they’re chanting in dentists’ offices (and being told to shut up because, “I have a freakin’ toothache.”) LuGaJu even managed to an excellent season vs. what I expected of him, and I expected a decent amount. Can’t wait for the 1st person in January to be like, “Grey, has anyone sculpted you because you’re so handsome? Anyway, you have LuGaJu ranked so high, aren’t you worried about his splits?” Preseason Rank #15 for 2nd basemen, 2026 Projections: 61/17/68/.277/18 in 492 ABs, Final Numbers: 69/30/92/.277/5 in 516 ABs
12. Liam Hicks – See his recap at the top 20 catchers for 2026 fantasy baseball.
13. Kazuma Okamoto – Usually after a rookie year, we have a good idea what to make of a player and, after a player’s rookie year who comes from Asia, we have an even better idea because he played there for a few years. I’m pretty sure I understand Okamoto less now. He was thought of as a contact-first guy and he was not that. He did strikeout a lot less in the 2nd half (while hitting for roughly the same meh average), so maybe that’s a good sign, but he also did everything less well in the 2nd half. Finally, who was better between him and Munetaka was put to bed. I don’t see Munteaka even in the top 20 (he tied for 21st). Preseason Rank #18 for 3rd basemen, 2026 Projections: 67/24/73/.256 in 489 ABs, Final Numbers: 81/33/92/.232/1 in 568 ABs
14. Jac Caglianone – While maintaining my faith in Italian Royals and not just Pacino, De Niro and Scorsese, I also can be thoroughly confused by his statline. First half? Great power, meh average. 2nd half? Meh power, great average. Together what a fine-looking Jac Cannoli! Separate? What is this? If he comes back next year and we get only the 2nd half, is he a 15/.300 hitter? I don’t need Yandy Paisan. Preseason Rank #15, 2026 Projections: 61/25/72/.234/3 in 474 ABs, Final Numbers: 72/23/75/.289/7 in 512 ABs
15. Jonathan Aranda – Didn’t really trust Aranda, but how can you blame me? He only had one season and it was inside Big Stein’s Stadium. Just discovered that the Rays have built a team around solid contact without swing and miss tendencies. Moneyball but for swinging but not trying to do too much. Call them, LineDriveBall. (You can claim to discover stuff if you just don’t read anyone else’s thoughts.) Preseason Rank #23, 2026 Projections: 61/16/66/.266/1 in 479 ABs, Final Numbers: 73/22/92/.274 in 580 ABs
16. Willson Contreras – I hope a similar fate does not await Contreras, but I looked at his career year at 34 years of age, and immediately thought of George Springer, and I am so sorry, Willson. I am being sincere, because you seem like you’d charge a blogger. Preseason Rank #19, 2026 Projections: 73/19/77/.261/3 in 509 ABs, Final Numbers: 68/27/81/.275/3 in 448 ABs
17. Josh Bell – Had a huge June to try to get traded then had a spiteful 2nd half to show all those teams that didn’t trade for him they were stupid. Spite, the un-Cola of motivators. Preseason Rank #39, 2026 Projections: 56/20/59/.231 in 443 ABs, Final Numbers: 78/21/96/.255/2 in 568 ABs
18. Kody Clemens – This year feels like one of those years that becomes so problematic for next year. You squint and you see HRody for a possible 30/.240 season next year and before you know you’re flying monkeys out your butt saying stuff like, “Is Matt Olson just HRody plus .20 points in average? What if I wait 17 rounds and take Clemens? Smart or. Dot dot dot. Genius? ” Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 74/27/81/.239/10 in 531 ABs
19. Isaac Paredes – He was very light on the preseason projections because it was unclear if he’d play as the Astros toyed with Altuve back to the infield. We know he’s the size of a G.I. Joe, but stop toying with him! Paredes was incredibly frustrating this year because he refused to get hot until the very end of the season. I like my guys to go 8/.330 one month, then 1/.135 the next month. 4/.260 every month is yawnstipating. Preseason Rank #22 for 3B, 2026 Projections: 41/17/46/.243 in 311 ABs, Final Numbers: 69/25/94/.262 in 562 ABs
20. Ezequiel Duran – By the by, Freddie Freeman was 21 for 1st basemen (tied with Munetaka Murakami). We have finally defeated The Veneers! “Or have we?!” Damn it, Mr. Reversal, not now. “Okay, but Freeman actually didn’t have a terrible season, just lacked some runs and RBIs.” Ugh, I have to agree. Give Freeman his usual 80 runs and 90 RBIs and he’s be a top 10 1st baseman. Can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Veneers might actually be underrated next year. As for Ezequiel, this guy frustrates me so much because, as I mentioned earlier this year, I drafted him every year in Draft & Hold leagues because of all his position eligibility but didn’t this year because his previous season was so bad (0/11/.224 in 90 games). The wild thing is his season this year isn’t really out of his realm of possibilities. He had a 14/8/.276 year in 2023. Only difference here is insane luck to stay healthy and grab up some counting stats. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 71/17/83/.260/12 in 539 ABs
