Top 25 First Basemen Rest of Season – The Final Countdown

I can’t tell you how many times I sit down to create this list and go, “Jesus, how bad are you at this?” Predicting the future has been tough and each week I kick myself for having to make big swings in the rankings. This week, Ty France pops onto the list, but he’s batting .292 with 16 homers on the year. That places him 14th among first basemen this season according to ESPN’s player rater. Three spots below France is Jesus Aguilar, who has been a big bright spot for the Marlins. Overall the team has shown a lot of promise in their young bats. And yet, the projection systems (and me) missed on Aguilar. Here I am, putting out yet another list lacking the Marlins slugger. While the power has been there over the last two weeks, the batting average has slipped some. In addition, the projection systems, even those that factor in opponents, have Aguilar ranked outside of the top 25 first basemen. So, here I am, stubborn and sticking to my guns for the final countdown. I’ve mentioned in the past how first base has been an embarrassment of riches for a while. That remains the same now. That’s not meant to be a knock on Aguilar at all, it’s just an explanation of how a player can still be useful in fantasy even if he’s not on a silly list. Let’s get to said list and then we’ll talk about some of the movers.

I’ve been holding on to Pete Alonso towards the top of this list despite some ups and downs. Well here we are in the third week of August and red-hot Alonso has come alive. Over the last two weeks, the Mets’ slugger is batting over .325 while mashing four homers. He’s even chipped in a stolen base. Steamer has Alonso ranked fourth for the rest of the season, but I’m going to ride his hot streak into the sun.

Looking at the top of this list, the players ranked 3rd-9th are pretty similar. Yes, there will be hot and cold streaks but those seven players from Alonso to Joey Votto have been really good this year, and the only times they didn’t occupy the top of this list were when injuries occurred. So while there is some movement, keep in mind the difference between these players is pretty small.

Two weeks ago, I took a stand on Luke Voit and took a little heat over it. Here we are two weeks later and Voit is on fire. The Yankees have gotten creative and slid Giancarlo Stanton into the outfield to fit Voit and Anthony Rizzo in the lineup. These last couple of days, Voit has hit the bench while the Yankees are in Atlanta, but I’m taking my tiny victory lap.

Speaking of Rizzo, it may look like he makes a huge leap, but he was only bumped down due to injury. Now that he’s healthy and back in the lineup every day, he heads back up. The same can be said for Yuli Gurriel now that he’s healthy and back in the potent Astros’ lineup.

The Rockies have a pair of hitters next to each other in C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon. Cron has been murdering the ball of late and took a big leap up this list. I’m all about riding the hot streak and the projection systems agree that Cron is legit for the rest of the season. In fact, Streamer has Cron ranked as the 9th best first baseman down the stretch. McMahon has struggled a little, but Steamer still has confidence in him ranking 10th for the rest of the season. While I like both, I don’t think I’m willing to bump either into the top 10.

Two players that the projection systems have really high are Trey Mancini (14) and Ryan Mountcastle (15). Both have struggled of late and Mountcastle didn’t even reach this list, but they’re both players that I’m keeping an eye on. To be completely honest, while I like both players, I’m not sure what the projection systems see in them to bump them up so high. I thought maybe it had to do with their opponents down the stretch, but the O’s have the 7th toughest schedule for the rest of the season.