Early 1B Rankings with Commentary

by
February 6, 2018

With such a solid response to the commentary added to my starting pitcher ranks last week, I want to do the same for the other positions and today I’ve got my first base rankings ready to go. In addition to the commentary, I’ve also highlighted the tier breakdowns as I see them. I didn’t do this with the SPs, but my February update will include that. We are also going to be rolling out our composite rankings in the coming weeks with several Rotographs authors contributing so stay tuned for those. Each colored bar represents the start of a new tier.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Who is your favorite mid-round target (starting with Santana) at the position?

February 1B Rankings
RK PLAYER TEAM ADP COMMENT
1 Paul Goldschmidt ARI 4 Pwr production of peers plus bankable SBs (17 per 600 PA)
2 Joey Votto CIN 19 Consistently excellent and unlocked extra pop w/FB% boost
3 Freddie Freeman ATL 22 As young ATL tm develops, the R/RBI outlook improves
4 Anthony Rizzo CHC 25 Not flashy, but fantastic every yr; two 10+ SBs yrs in last three
5 Jose Abreu CWS 43 Quietly led the AL in total bases (343, 2 more than J.Ramirez)
6 Cody Bellinger LAD 24 Elite pwr & solid spd cover AVG concerns fueled by K%
7 Edwin Encarnacion CLE 57 Was every bit as good as Hoskins during Rhys’s run (click)
8 Wil Myers SD 72 The steals keep him in this tier (48 since ’16)
9 Miguel Cabrera DET 95 Injuries ravaged ’17, but I can’t bury him off one season
10 Eric Hosmer FA 69 Hosmer > Miggy at same price, but 2 rds later I’ll take Miggy
11 Rhys Hoskins PHI 51 The excitement is out of hand at this ADP, but worth top 100
12 Carlos Santana PHI 173 Tops a weird middle tier & presents a great value at this ADP
13 Ian Desmond COL 115 A chance to be cheaper Wil Myers in Coors if healthy
14 Matt Carpenter STL 186 Keep a close eye on news re: shoulder & adjust accordingly
15 Marwin Gonzalez HOU 115 Ranked high bc of 1B, OF, SS, 2B elig., but T4/5 among 1B
16 Joey Gallo TEX 116 Chip-in SBs can’t counter devastatingly low AVG
17 Josh Bell PIT 178 Pulled the ball a lot more, trading some AVG for HR
18 Ryan Zimmerman WAS 126 Surge was health-related as skills have always been there
19 Jose Martinez STL 278 Petriello highlighted how we could see a huge season here
20 Justin Smoak TOR 147 Massive K% drop fueled the breakout
21 Matt Olson OAK 120 Hit 47 HR in 559 PA in AAA/MLB, but 26 HR per 600 PA in MILB
22 Trey Mancini BAL 159 Posted a .306 AVG in 2053 MILB PA
23 Justin Bour MIA 192 Had 73 RBI in 129 gms when MIA scored 3.8 R/G in ’15
24 Yulieski Gurriel HOU 209 Maybe pair him w/Gallo as 1B/CI to boost AVG w/a late pick
25 Gregory Bird NYY 155 Love the talent, but hype could go too far again so be careful
26 Eric Thames MIL 187 Line w/out Apr: .226/.335/.455, ~30 HR/60 RBI/80 R over 162
27 Yonder Alonso CLE 308 Breakout supported by real chg. & new park/lineup will help
28 Chris Davis BAL 248 One-time top HR hitter couldn’t get in on HR craze w/just 26
29 Hanley Ramirez BOS 328 Only 18 gms at 1B so doesn’t qualify everywhere
30 Brandon Belt SF 304 Would’ve had first 20 HR seas. w/health; avg of 126 gms/seas.
31 Logan Morrison FA 286 Had 38 HR in 601 PA after 31 in previous 901; needs a team
32 Ryon Healy SEA 193 Just 6 HR in final 282 PA (Jul-Oct); likely to bat low in SEA
33 Wilmer Flores NYM 322 Improvements v. RH offers hope of age-26 breakout
34 Joe Mauer MIN 392 AVG return thrust him back to fantasy relevance as CI/UT
35 Matt Adams WAS 469 Surged w/ATL and will face almost only RH (.896 OPS in ’17)
36 Mark Reynolds FA 384 At worst a home-only option if he returns to COL
37 Lucas Duda FA 444 Career .249/.356/.486 w/30 HR per 600 PA v. RH
38 Adam Lind FA 492 Under .883 OPS v. RH just once in last five seasons
39 Tommy Joseph PHI 535 No favorable split & PT will be sparse w/Santana addition
40 Adrian Gonzalez NYM 526 Age-36 coming off career-worst season (69 wRC+ in 252 PA)
41 Mitch Moreland BOS 402 Just 1 yr of 100+ wRC+ in his last 5; AL-Only option at best
42 Mike Napoli FA 545 Had 4 months under a .175 AVG & career-high 34% K





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

88 Comments
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Dominikk85member
6 years ago

Rizzo is great but I think he is a little better in real life than in fantasy because his lowish babips seem to be for real.his k rates are super good but still he only hits like 270 due to babip.

11
Cubslol
6 years ago
Reply to  Dominikk85

Rizzo is bad

-46
Paul Sporermember
6 years ago
Reply to  Dominikk85

I’m not sure if this comment is meant to suggest he should be lower. He probably is better IRL v. fantasy because of his OBP and defense, but otherwise he’s .280-30-100-90 a year the last four seasons. In two of them he has double-digit SBs. I’m not even a huge Rizzo fan, but he’s a stud in the midst of his prime.

15
dl80
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Sporer

Great list, Paul. I agree with Dominikk85 in spirit, but I also can’t see who would jump from below Rizzo to above him. Abreu has a marginal lead in average, but loses in every other category. AND Abreu is reliant on high BABIPs which may disappear without warning.

0
SLodes26
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Sporer

Would Rizzo having 2b eligibility in an OBP 5×5 league make him a top 5 player?

3