Updated First Base Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

by Scott Engel 3/27/19 4:04 AM Follow Scott

The RotoBaller Head-to-Head rankings review series winds down with a view of first base through the lens of our three-man expert panel of fantasy accuracy champ Nick Mariano and premier staffers JB Branson and Bill Dubiel.

The top tier could conceivably have a new kingpin at any point, and not all of our experts believe it is a true three-man top of the crop. The star power drops off quite quickly at this position, yet it does go deep in terms of power and RBI production.

There are more veteran question marks that permeate the position as we start to move into the middle and lower tiers. There is a not of young, promising upside performers here, and the guys at the top are simply steady in higher level productivity.

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First Base Tiered Ranks - H2H Points Leagues (March)

In case you missed it, our very own "Big Pick Nick" Mariano was recently named the #1 overall most accurate industry expert ranker for the 2018 season. You can see his secret sauce below! Additionally, industry legend Scott Engel recently joined the RotoBaller team and provides his insights as well. Scott is an FSWA Hall Of Famer and award winner.

Ranking	Tier	Player Name	Position	Nick	JB	Bill
1	1	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	24	23	16
2	1	Freddie Freeman	1B	26	24	21
3	1	Anthony Rizzo	1B	35	26	26
4	2	Joey Votto	1B	40	33	23
5	2	Rhys Hoskins	1B/OF	39	43	39
6	2	Cody Bellinger	1B/OF	47	48	47
7	2	Matt Carpenter	1B/2B/3B	73	42	38
8	3	Daniel Murphy	1B/2B	77	71	72
9	3	Jose Abreu	1B	70	85	98
10	3	Robinson Cano	1B/2B	97	83	82
11	3	Edwin Encarnacion	1B	94	114	67
12	3	Jesus Aguilar	1B	100	90	90
13	3	Carlos Santana	1B/3B	88	94	105
14	3	J.T. Realmuto	C/1B	93	88	114
15	4	Travis Shaw	1B/2B/3B	117	91	97
16	4	Matt Olson	1B	102	109	111
17	4	Joey Gallo	3B/1B/OF	90	122	158
18	4	Max Muncy	1B/2B/3B	162	111	150
19	4	Miguel Cabrera	1B	120	160	155
20	4	Ryan Braun	1B/OF	141	165	131
21	4	Eric Hosmer	1B	161	135	147
22	4	Ian Desmond	OF/1B	152	149	143
23	4	Jurickson Profar	SS/3B/1B/2B	196	130	125
24	5	Buster Posey	C/1B	232	162	152
25	5	Luke Voit	1B	184	189	174
26	5	Justin Smoak	1B	157	228	169
27	5	Yuli Gurriel	1B/2B/3B	214	214	172
28	5	Jose Martinez	OF/1B	271	192	140
29	5	Tyler White	1B	165	236	229
30	6	Trey Mancini	1B/OF	198	230	230
31	6	Josh Bell	1B	215	247	242
32	6	C.J. Cron	1B	259	233	220
33	6	Ryan Zimmerman	1B	201	297	238
34	6	Brandon Belt	1B/OF	236	322	218
35	6	Jake Bauers	1B/OF	261	255	279
36	6	Pete Alonso	1B	331	241	236
37	6	Miguel Sano	1B/3B	347	288	179
38	6	Marwin Gonzalez	1B/2B/SS/OF	245	256	316
39	6	Wilmer Flores	1B/3B/2B	191	396	#N/A
40	6	Justin Bour	1B	285	347	290
41	6	Tucker Barnhart	C/1B	308	307	#N/A
42	6	Ryan O'Hearn	1B	348	344	314
43	7	Yonder Alonso	1B	448	267	295
44	7	Ehire Adrianza	SS/1B/3B	#N/A	#N/A	342
45	7	Jay Bruce	OF/1B	415	282	#N/A
46	7	Kendrys Morales	1B	262	502	297
47	7	Niko Goodrum	1B/2B/3B/SS/OF	370	380	346
48	7	Ryon Healy	1B	432	421	270
49	7	Adam Duvall	1B/OF	473	#N/A	317
50	7	Ronald Guzman	1B	367	427	#N/A
51	7	Albert Pujols	1B	409	522	284
52	7	Eric Thames	1B/OF	436	409	372
53	7	Ryan McMahon	1B/3B/2B	411	401	#N/A
54	7	Mitch Moreland	1B	364	516	340
55	7	John Hicks	C/1B	466	382	#N/A
56	7	Colin Moran	3B/1B	459	445	394
57	7	Steve Pearce	1B/2B/OF	455	523	350
58	7	Neil Walker	1B/2B	413	494	#N/A
59	8	Tyler Austin	1B	503	492	367
60	8	Chris Davis	1B	442	486	#N/A
61	8	Rowdy Tellez	1B	482	#N/A	#N/A
62	8	Greg Bird	1B	460	515	#N/A
63	8	Dan Vogelbach	1B	445	576	#N/A
64	8	Jedd Gyorko	1B/3B	518	559	#N/A
65	8	Matt Adams	1B	584	536	#N/A
66	8	Mark Canha	1B	#N/A	566	#N/A
67	8	A.J. Reed	1B	567	#N/A	#N/A
68	8	Nate Lowe	1B	621	532	#N/A
69	8	Victor Caratini	C/1B	#N/A	585	#N/A
70	8	Miguel Rojas	1B/2B/3B/SS	#N/A	592	#N/A
71	8	David Freese	1B/3B	608	#N/A	#N/A
72	8	Chris Shaw	1B	646	#N/A	#N/A

Rankings Analysis – Top Tiers

Tier One

Paul Goldschmidt unanimously still leads our first base rankings, but not by much. He is no longer a first round pick, but a move to St. Louis should keep his mostly impressive all-around output stable, even if he does not quite give you the significant steals advantage he used to.

Freddie Freeman may have not delivered his best season yet in terms of power, and at this point next year, some of our analysts could be considering Freeman over Goldschmidt in any format.

Nick clearly believes that Anthony Rizzo does not belong in the top tier. His homer and run totals last year were disappointing, but JB and Bill are maintaining their high-levels of faith in him.

Tier Two

Nick is definitely not on board with keeping Joey Votto at the top of this tier and I have to agree with him. The overall production was down in a big way last year, and at his advancing age with suspicions of lingering back issues by some fantasy analysts, I am not willing to invest here either.

We could see an improved batting average from Rhys Hoskins this year, which could naturally lead to better H2H Points output overall.

Nick seems to be very skeptical that Matt Carpenter can repeat his power production from last season. He has him nearly 40 spots behind Bill’s overall placement.

Rankings Analysis - Middle Tiers

Tier Three

Mariano is more confident in a power rebound from Jose Abreu. JB is definitely down on Edwin Encarnacion and I agree with him. The bat speed is slowing and the plate discipline numbers have been on a downward trend.

There is some skepticism on Jesus Aguilar in some fantasy circles, but it’s not outstanding among our crew.

Bill is not buying into a better season from Carlos Santana. But from an H2H perspective, the strikeout and walk rates were still very good last season. Maybe that is why Nick has him rated higher than the rest of the panel.

Tier Four

Our panel had a lot of confidence in Matt Olson, as did the A’s, before his hamate bone injury struck him down during the opening series in Japan.

Obviously, Nick is willing to take into account Joey Gallo’s pure on-base skills more than Bill. The strikeouts are no doubt frustrating, but he does not hurt you here as much as in 5x5 batting average formats.

JB believes Max Muncy is for real, and the Dodgers’ newfound slugger can also compensate for some Ks with on-base abilities.

Miguel Cabrera had a strong spring, which offers hope for Mariano’s elevated rating of him.

Ryan Braun can still help owners in H2H points formats when he is available, but JB may be expecting a sharper decline this season.

Tier Five

Bill is the biggest believer in Luke Voit. He will continue to wage a war with Greg Bird for ultimate playing time while Aaron Hicks is out. He should still play regularly shuttling between first base and DH until the official decision comes when Hicks returns.

There was a drop in the power department that really turned off JB to Justin Smoak, but the K/BB numbers may remain solid enough to not warrant the overall ranking more than 60 spots behind Nick.

Jose Martinez has really made his mark as a pure hitter and does have legit H2H appeal when he is in the lineup. But as Nick indicates with his lowered ranking, where is the consistent playing time going to come from?

Tyler White did display some prodigious power potential and showed he could offset his strikeouts with some walks last season. Yet JB and Bill seemingly need to be more convinced that he will be impactful over a full regular season.

Rankings Analysis – Lower Tiers

Tier Six

This is a thick tier with some interesting names. Trey Mancini was considerably less efficient for H2H purposes in 2018, and the strikeout totals serve up serious alarm bells. C.J. Cron has great power output for this tier, but you will also pay dearly in some other negative departments.

Nick is still maintaining some confidence in Ryan Zimmerman, and will obviously live with what he provides when he is actually active. Jake Bauers has an alluring power/speed combo, but the strikeout numbers drop him to this tier and cramps his upside a bit in the H2H format.

I am with JB on the higher ranking of Peter Alonso. He could really soar among anyone in this group, with the potential of a .280 average and 25-plus homers.

Justin Bour certainly does not win the favor of JB in the move to the American League. At this point, he will give you a good amount of power and on-base skills to offset the strikeouts. Ryan O’Hearn has some power promise but his splits indicate he may not be a consistent starter. He only had two extra-base hits in 37 at-bats versus lefties last year.

Tier Seven

It appears Nick is still not a believer in Yonder Alonso’s newfound power over the past two seasons. He has Alonso over 170 spots lower than JB.

Only JB seems to believe that a move out of New York might somewhat boost the outlook of Jay Bruce.

Maybe it’s because of age, but JB is seriously down on Kendrys Morales.

As Bill indicates, Albert Pujols is still viable as a late flier. He had a good spring and will continue to get some consistent playing time.

If Eric Thames gets pushed back into regular at-bats at any point, he showed in 2017 that he can hit homers in bunches, and also can draw some walks, but the results were often all-or-nothing, too.

Ryan McMahon has not backed down in his battle for playing time with Garrett Hampson this spring, and he has some nifty appeal by this point of the first base pool.

Tier Eight

Chris Davis maybe has some lingering appeal in name only, but he did not impress this spring and was likely passed by in many drafts.

Blue Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez displayed impressive power this spring and could be back from the minors at some point later this year.

If Dan Vogelbach gets more playing time at some point this season, he does have on-base and RBI promise.

Mark Canha appears to be in line for more quality playing time with Olson out, but he will only be part of a platoon with Jurickson Profar.