We’ve hit the All-Star Break and it was quite fitting to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr mash a homer into the next solar system. The Blue Jays slugger has done nothing short of taking the league by storm, destroying 28 homers into oblivion. I have zero ragerts about placing Vlad on top of the first base list, but Freddie Freeman certainly has had something to say about the move. Freeman is batting north of .350 over the last month and with his running mate Ronald Acuña done for the year, the Braves’ first baseman will have to carry the big boy load down the stretch. Can he do it? Or will the weight of losing Acuña be too much for him to bear. Find out this week, on “Days Of Our Lives”. Sorry, I blacked out. What are we doing?
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr | 1B | Blue Jays | – |
| 2 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | Braves | – |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | Athletics | – |
| 4 | Jose Abreu | 1B | White Sox | +2 |
| 5 | Pete Alonso | 1B | Mets | – |
| 6 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | Cardinals | +1 |
| 7 | Cody Bellinger | 1B/OF | Dodgers | -3 |
| 8 | DJ LeMahieu | 1B/2B/3B | Yankees | +1 |
| 9 | Jared Walsh | 1B/OF | Angels | -1 |
| 10 | Max Muncy | 1B/2B/3B | Dodgers | +1 |
| 11 | Kris Bryant | 1B/3B/OF | Cubs | +1 |
| 12 | Anthony Rizzo | 1B | Cubs | +2 |
| 13 | Yuli Gurriel | 1B | Astros | -3 |
| 14 | Luke Voit | 1B | Yankees | +2 |
| 15 | Trey Mancini | 1B/OF | Orioles | – |
| 16 | Ryan McMahon | 1B/2B/3B | Rockies | -3 |
| 17 | Eric Hosmer | 1B | Padres | +2 |
| 18 | Josh Bell | 1B | Nationals | +3 |
| 19 | Rhys Hoskins | 1B | Phillies | NR |
| 20 | Jake Cronenworth | 1B/2B/SS | Padres | NR |
| 21 | Nate Lowe | 1B | Rangers | +1 |
| 22 | Joey Votto | 1B | Reds | +2 |
| 23 | Andrew Vaughn | 1B/OF | White Sox | NR |
| 24 | Ryan Mountcastle | 1B/OF | Orioles | -6 |
| 25 | C.J. Cron | 1B | Rockies | -2 |
I will lead with a paragraph to “cable” who always tells me I’m too low on Carlos Santana. You’ll notice Santana is not currently on this list. It is precautionary due to the wrist injury. If we get an update that says he’s fine and on Friday he rakes, he’ll land back in his normal spot. But I don’t like wrist injuries for hitters. It tends to sap their power. There is also an embarrassment of riches at first base currently. I wrote down on a whiteboard 15 names that I considered for the last 6 spots. The closest to making the list were Ty France, Jonathan Schoop, Alex Kirilloff, and Dominic Smith, with Jesus Agular and Keston Hiura bringing up the rear. So please “cable”, no need to rant about Santana, even though I know you will.
Cody Bellinger continues to be a fantasy pariah. Re-read that, it does not say pirana. He headed into the All-Star Break on a 7/57 slump and I’m just not positive that he’s healthy (still). I’d rather have the lower-risk bats over him for the rest of the season, even if they lack his ultimate upside.
One player I always struggle with is Rhys Hoskins. I’m a Phillies fan and it’s just painful watching him at the plate, but he’s popped 20 homers. Steamer’s rest of season projections have him hitting another 15 bombs and ranking as the 8th best offensive first baseman down the stretch. Steamer is certainly smarter than me, but I’m not even close to bumping Hoskins up that high. He’s like a poor man’s Joey Gallo, which is useful for fantasy purposes albeit with some consequences.
Andrew Vaughn was not excited to see the All-Star Break here as he nearly hit .400 and mashed 4 homers over his last 10 games. The White Sox slugger is still batting in the bottom half of the order, but if he continues to mash I could see them sliding him up as high as fifth. If you’re in an active league, Vaughn is most likely already rostered, but he’s still below 50% ownership in ESPN leagues.
Yuli Gurriel was flaming hot over the first three months of the year but has seemingly come back to earth. He went 9/46 heading into the break but I wouldn’t expect him to slump for too long. Gurriel’s plate skills in terms of being aggressive without the “Javy Baez-esque” strikeout rate are very impressive.
Like Carlos Santana, I slid Ryan Mountcastle down in response to being DTD after getting plunked by a pitch. However, unlike Santana, we have the expectation that Mountcastle will be good to go come Friday.
A couple of other hitters that were super-hot heading into the break were Wilmer Flores, Garrett Cooper, and Jace Peterson. All three of those are riding the hot hand until it’s over kind of situation. One other name that I wanted to mention that Steamer really likes is Yandy Diaz. However, it’s mostly due to his plate discipline/drawing walks. That’s really useful in a points league and he’s only rostered in 12.8% of ESPN leagues.
