This year was my twins’ first year of t-ball and they both managed to make the all-star team. Not only was I a proud papa, but because I helped coach, I got to be on the field with them. Our commissioner made the awesome call to have the game on a little league field and announced all the players over the loudspeaker. During the year, it was an incredible experience to help kids learn the game – running the bases, fielding grounders, keeping your eye on the ball. One thing I didn’t do, was pitching to our team once we got to the “coach pitch” level. So, when Coach turned to me and asked me to pitch….during the all-star game….I felt those familiar butterflies. I took the mound and had it working. If a kid swung and missed at a pitch, I used my Terminator-style targeting system and threw the ball where it would hit the bat. Six batters up, six base hits from our National League All-Stars. “Now batting, number 6, “Richardo’s Son”. Both my kids hit lefty and this was the first lefty that I was facing in my “coach pitch” career. Pitch number one was a little outside. Okay, I have to adjust the other direction. Pitch number two HIT MY CHILD SQUARE IN THE CHEST. Me on the mound (in my best Ralphie from A Christmas Story voice), “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuddddddddddddddggggggggggge”. He was fine and after a little laughing and “DAD THAT WAS TERRIBLE”, he hit the next pitch. That’s when I saw it out of the corner of my eye – Coach walking to the mound. You hit one kid in a t-ball all-star game and that’s it? I got pulled. My day was done. Six batters up, six successful hits were given up, and one hit batsman. Let’s take a look at the first base list and then we’ll talk about some players:
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. | 1B | Blue Jays | – |
| 2 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | Braves | – |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | Athletics | +2 |
| 4 | Cody Bellinger | 1B/OF | Dodgers | +13 |
| 5 | Pete Alonso | 1B | Mets | -1 |
| 6 | Jose Abreu | 1B | White Sox | -3 |
| 7 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | Cardinals | -1 |
| 8 | Jared Walsh | 1B/OF | Angels | -1 |
| 9 | DJ LeMahieu | 1B/2B/3B | Yankees | – |
| 10 | Yuli Gurriel | 1B | Astros | +2 |
| 11 | Max Muncy | 1B/2B/3B | Dodgers | +3 |
| 12 | Kris Bryant | 1B/3B/OF | Cubs | -3 |
| 13 | Ryan McMahon | 1B/2B/3B | Rockies | +2 |
| 14 | ||||
| 15 | Trey Mancini | 1B/OF | Orioles | -3 |
| 16 | Luke Voit | 1B | Yankees | NR |
| 17 | Carlos Santana | 1B | Royals | +5 |
| 18 | Ryan Mountcastle | 1B/OF | Orioles | +6 |
| 19 | Eric Hosmer | 1B | Padres | -5 |
| 20 | Dominic Smith | 1B/OF | Mets | -3 |
| 21 | Josh Bell | 1B | Nationals | +4 |
| 22 | Nate Lowe | 1B | Rangers | -1 |
| 23 | CJ Cron | 1B | Rockies | NR |
| 24 | Joey Votto | 1B | Reds | -1 |
| 25 | Alex Kirilloff | 1B/OF | Twins | NR |
For the first time in a while, this list was tough. Not because of a lack of decent players, but because of an embarrassment of riches. There were a couple of players who just missed this list and while I’m not sure the hot streak will continue for the rest of the season, I’m all about juicing the orange while they’re hot. My first couple of cuts were Rhys Hoskins, Jonathan Schoop, Ty France, and Keston Hiura. In the case of Hoskins, he just looks so out of whack and while he’s still popping some home runs, that’s not enough to make up for the .224 batting average.
The biggest jump-up was made by Cody Bellinger. While he’s just 3/14 since his return from the IL, he has mashed two homers and has stolen a base. I don’t think the Dodgers would have Bellinger stealing bases if he weren’t fully healthy, so I placed him back towards the top of this list for my rest of season expectations. Not to be topped by Bellinger though, was Matt Olson, who I slid up to number three. I’ll be honest with you, I knew what Olson was doing power-wise, but I did not realize just how low he has gotten his strike-out rate while mashing. Olson is currently sitting at a 16.2% strikeout rate after previously sitting above 24.7% every year since 2017.
One of the biggest fallers this week was Kris Bryant. I’ve talked in previous articles about how important Bryant’s health is to his success. The Cubs slugger has been in a 12/87 slump over the last month and this week it came out that he’s dealing with side soreness. This is the type of news that we do not want to see for Bryant and he’s struggled mightily in the past while trying to play through injuries.
The Yankees welcomed back Luke Voit to the lineup last week and so we must welcome him back to our list. Carlos Santana and Ryan Mountcastle took some big steps up with Voit to land in the middle of our list. With so many first basemen heating up, I had a tough time figuring out what to do with struggling guys like Hoskins, Trey Mancini, and Eric Hosmer. I didn’t want to overreact too much to the streaks, but Santana and Mountcastle have the plate skills to continue their success moving forward.
Finally, as the weather warms up, we’re seeing Josh Bell heating up at the dish. He’s hit five homers over the last month and more importantly has cut his strikeout rate down to 23% during that time. Because of that, I slid him up to number 20 on this list. That may not be what you thought you were getting during draft season, but these are signs in the right direction for Bell.
