Greetings and Welcome Back. We had a fine week of baseball this past week didn’t we. I just love baseball in April where we can start the day off right with a hot cup of coffee and end it with an old fashioned while watching the west coast clubs play. All right well today I’ve got the First Baseman Rankings for you so let’s get to it.
TOP DOGS
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Blue Jays No surprise here as Vlad has continued to crush the ball. A little concerning that he is swinging at balls out of the strike zone at a much higher rate than in the past but pitchers are throwing it way outside the zone and Vlad is still swinging at it. Vlad is the type of hitter that can get away with this for a while but it will eventually catch up to him. If he can take a few more walks it would benefit him greatly I feel in the long run. This is Vlad’s whiff swing breakdown so far below.
2. Matt Olson Braves I love what I see from Olson so far. He has been hammering the ball and is at the top of the leaderboard in HRs and RBIs. In my mind, he has edged out Freeman so far and I don’t think he is giving up this spot.
3. Freddie Freeman Dodgers Freeman is doing his thing and did just get his first HR the other day. Steady as they come Freeman will still provide you with the great numbers in AVG, HR and RBIs you are used to getting.
4. C.J. Cron Rockies Cron in the TOP GUNS tier you say? Absolutely! Have you watched this guy hit this year? Cron is driving in runners on base and in clutch moments as well. He is making great contact with the ball and has great plate discipline so far. The Rockies are a surprising team out of the gate and Cron is a major reason why. They have a player manager in Bud Black and a nice clubhouse makeup as well. Hope you had the over in Rockies wins this season as that looks good so far.
5. Pete Alonso Mets Alonso has the ability to lead the league in HRs every year and so far has hit 3 HR while hitting just over .200. A little annoying that he probably won’t sniff .260 avg but we know this about him and will take his 50 HRs and like it.
SOLID PROS
6. Josh Bell Nationals Bell has been so good lately it’s been kinda under the radar. He’s hitting over .300 has more walks than strikeouts and is making hard contact when he is getting hits. I like what I see here from Bell and he could be in for a great season.
7. Rhys Hoskins Phillies Hoskins has looked like he is more comfortable at the plate this year. With the new lineup in Philly, the pressure isn’t on him or Harper to produce as much as it was in the past. Let’s see if he can keep up with how hard he has hit some balls this season so far but he has done it in the past as well. He has more walks than k’s which is a great sign he is seeing the ball well.
8. Jose Abreu White Sox
9. Jared Walsh Angels
10. Paul Goldschmidt Cardinals Well if you’re old enough you might remember your grandparents or parents going out early in the morning to warm up the old car before taking off. Well, Goldy is that old car and needs a little time to get going. A little concerning that he is not making great contact with the ball only 2 barrels out of 27 but he will get going. Remember the first year with the Cardinals .260 34 HR 90 RBI’s well that’s what we are looking at here.
STUCK IN MIDDLE
11. Max Muncy Dodgers Average is down but nothing alarming here under the hood. A little older player, see Goldy above. Will continue to hit the ball hard in key spots. Will probably not see those mid 30’s HR output again but high 20’s in the HR category is definitely in play here with his usual assortment of Runs and RBIs.
12. Jake Cronenworth Padres Where or Where is my first HR? Oh, the Reds are in town and Vladimir Gutierrez is on the mound today! Ok, let’s see it, Cron Zone. Still a great player and hitter even without a HR, Cronenworth will heat up shortly and provide you with a boatload of Runs RBIs and will sneak in the 20’s with that HR total.
13. Ty France Mariners
14. Anthony Rizzo Yankees Has cooled off after a hot start to the season but Rizzo still holds value for where drafters were getting him in drafts this year.
15. DJ LeMahieu Yankees The opposite of his teammate above. D.J. is getting hot and I’m digging his hard hit percentage at 95% percentile. He is sitting out occasionally which could be problematic but I think as the season goes on D.J, is going to find his way into the lineup more often than not.
HAZY FUTURE
16. Ryan Mountcastle Orioles
17. Joey Votto Reds Yikes, is this a repeat of 2019 Votto? The trend of older players needing to warm up the ole motor definitely rings true here as well but there are some concerning takeaways. 18 K’s out of 48 plate appearances is dreadful. I hope Votto can snap out of it soon. Love to see this guy in the game.
18. Brandon Belt Giants Great start to the year. Belt usually puts together a quality at-bat and is driving in runs in clutch moments. Quality underrated hitter still at this stage in his career.
19. Owen Miller Guardians I couldn’t leave off a player who is as red hot as Miller has been. Miller is stinging the ball with power nobody really knew he had. He’s got great speed as well so is there going to be an uptick in his steals as well soon? If that happens watch out as I don’t think this is a Yermin Mercedes situation and Miller looks like he’s going to be a very useful player for fantasy owners who took a shot on him in the first FAAB period. Should receive 1B eligibility shortly in NFBC leagues.
20. Tyler Stephenson Reds Hopefully he is ok as he just went on the concussion list last night due to a collision at the plate with Luke Voit. Tommy Pham certainly doesn’t have any love lost for SD as he still wants to fight in that city anyway he can by challenging Voit to a boxing match. Hmmm…Pham would scare me too, to be honest.
Honorable Mention
Frank Schwindel Cubs, Nathaniel Lowe Rangers, Spencer Torkelson Tigers
Hope you all have a great week and we will see you back here next week with the updated First Baseman Rankings
