Fantasy Baseball > 2018 Rankings > First Base

2018 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: First Base

Top Ranked Fantasy First Baseman Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Goldschmidt is, predictably, the top-ranked fantasy first baseman for 2018. Power and speed at first base: 'nuff said.

First base has always been a position to fill the power spot in your fantasy baseball lineup. While that hasn't changed, There are a few guys who can also steal a decent amount of bases for you, too. Paul Goldschmidt, despite his size, has already stolen 117 bases in his career, not to mention 71 steals in the last three seasons, combined (18 last season). His speed, along with his power production numbers, has made him our top-ranked fantasy first baseman again in 2018.

Aside from Paul Goldschmidt, we might see Cody Bellinger steal somewhere between 10-20 bases in 2018 - if he manages to get on base enough this season, which is to say, if he learns how to hit a right-hander's curveball this off-season (more on that dilemma later)... and Wil Myers is a near lock to steal 20 bases despite having a lot of issues with his batting average and on-base percentage. Anthony Rizzo also managed to steal 10 bases last season, and we don't think that's a fluke given the fact that he stole 15 bases 2 years ago.

And then there's Ian Desmond who started 22 games at first base last season. He missed 67 games last season but was on pace for about 25 steals overall.

But, yeah, that's it when it comes to drafting any significant stolen bases at first base. Check out the 2018 fantasy rankings below for first basemen to see who else you can draft. There's still lots of power on the board at first base, so draft accordingly.

Joey Votto has led the NL in OB% for 6 of the last 8 seasons. That spells fantasy baseball success.

Top 50 First Baseman for 2018

RANK	PLAYER	Team	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
1	Goldschmidt, Paul	AZ	155	558	117	166	36	120	94	147	18	.297	.563	.404	.966
2	Votto, Joey	CIN	162	559	106	179	36	100	134	83	5	.320	.578	.454	1.032
3	Rizzo, Anthony	CHC	157	572	99	156	32	109	91	90	10	.273	.507	.392	.899
4	Encarnacion, Edwin	CLE	157	554	96	143	38	107	104	133	2	.258	.504	.377	.881
5	Bellinger, Cody	LAD	132	480	87	128	39	97	64	146	10	.267	.581	.352	.933
6	Abreu, Jose	CHW	156	621	95	189	33	102	35	119	3	.304	.552	.354	.906
7	Freeman, Freddie	ATL	117	440	84	135	28	71	65	95	8	.307	.586	.403	.989
8	Hosmer, Eric	KC	162	603	98	192	25	94	66	104	6	.318	.498	.385	.882
9	Zimmerman, Ryan	WSH	144	524	90	159	36	108	44	126	1	.303	.573	.358	.930
10	Hoskins, Rhys	PHI	50	170	37	44	18	48	37	46	2	.259	.618	.396	1.014
11	Bour, Justin	MIA	108	377	52	109	25	83	47	95	1	.289	.536	.366	.902
12	Santana, Carlos	CLE	154	571	90	148	23	79	88	94	5	.259	.455	.363	.818
13	Myers, Wil	SD	155	567	80	138	30	74	70	180	20	.243	.464	.328	.792
14	Smoak, Justin	TOR	158	560	85	151	38	90	73	128	0	.270	.529	.355	.883
15	Morrison, Logan	TB	149	512	75	126	38	85	81	149	2	.246	.516	.353	.868
16	Posey, Buster	SF	140	494	62	158	12	67	61	66	6	.320	.462	.400	.861
17	Olson, Matt	OAK	59	189	33	49	24	45	22	60	0	.259	.651	.352	1.003
18	Desmond, Ian	COL	95	339	47	93	7	40	24	87	15	.274	.375	.326	.701
19	Gallo, Joey	TEX	145	449	85	94	41	80	75	196	7	.209	.537	.333	.869
20	Thames, Eric	MIL	138	469	83	116	31	63	75	163	4	.247	.518	.359	.877
21	Mancini, Trey	BAL	147	543	65	159	24	78	33	139	1	.293	.488	.338	.826
22	Martinez, Jose	STL	106	272	47	84	14	46	32	60	4	.309	.518	.379	.897
23	Carpenter, Matt	STL	145	497	91	120	23	69	109	125	2	.241	.451	.384	.835
24	Bird, Greg	NYY	48	147	20	28	9	28	19	42	0	.190	.422	.288	.710
25	Cron, C.J.	LAA	100	339	39	84	16	56	22	96	3	.248	.437	.305	.741
26	Cabrera, Miguel	DET	130	469	50	117	16	60	54	110	0	.249	.399	.329	.728
27	Gonzalez, Marwin	HOU	134	455	67	138	23	90	49	99	8	.303	.530	.377	.907
28	Reynolds, Mark	COL	148	520	82	139	30	97	69	175	2	.267	.487	.352	.839
29	Gurriel, Yulieski	HOU	139	529	69	158	18	75	22	62	3	.299	.486	.332	.817
30	Bell, Josh	PIT	159	549	75	140	26	90	66	117	2	.255	.466	.334	.800
31	Healy, Ryon	SEA	149	576	66	156	25	78	23	142	0	.271	.451	.302	.754
32	Alonso, Yonder	SEA	142	451	72	120	28	67	68	118	2	.266	.501	.365	.866
33	Moreland, Mitch	BOS	148	505	72	125	22	79	56	119	0	.248	.446	.327	.772
34	Mauer, Joe	MIN	141	525	69	160	7	71	66	83	2	.305	.417	.384	.801
35	Davis, Chris	BAL	128	456	65	98	26	61	61	195	1	.215	.423	.309	.732
36	Belt, Brandon	SF	104	382	63	92	18	51	66	104	3	.241	.469	.355	.823
37	Vargas, Kennys	MIN	78	241	33	61	11	41	20	77	0	.253	.444	.314	.758
38	Duda, Lucas	TB	127	423	50	92	30	64	60	135	0	.217	.496	.322	.818
39	Napoli, Mike	TEX	124	425	60	82	29	66	49	163	1	.193	.428	.285	.713
40	Headley, Chase	NYY	147	512	77	140	12	61	60	132	9	.273	.406	.352	.758
41	Adams, Matt	ATL	131	339	46	93	20	65	23	88	0	.274	.522	.319	.841
42	Valencia, Danny	SEA	130	450	54	115	15	66	40	122	2	.256	.411	.314	.725
43	Joseph, Tommy	PHI	142	495	51	119	22	69	33	129	1	.240	.432	.289	.721
44	Flores, Wilmer	NYM	110	336	42	91	18	52	17	54	1	.271	.488	.307	.795
45	Valbuena, Luis	LAA	117	347	42	69	22	65	48	106	0	.199	.432	.294	.727
46	Lind, Adam	WSH	116	267	39	81	14	59	28	47	1	.303	.513	.362	.875
47	Hicks, John	DET	60	173	25	46	6	22	13	51	2	.266	.439	.326	.766
48	Aguilar, Jesus	MIL	133	279	40	74	16	52	25	94	0	.265	.505	.331	.837
49	Rivera, T.J.	NYM	73	214	27	62	5	27	9	32	1	.290	.430	.330	.760
50	Romine, Andrew	DET	122	313	44	71	4	25	21	66	6	.227	.332	.282	.615

Fantasy Comparison: Cody Bellinger vs. Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion or Cody Bellinger? Hmm... which to pick, which to pick? Despite Bellinger's chances of stealing a good amount of bases and the relative similarity of their power stats across the board, we chose Encarnacion over Bellinger just for the fact that Encarnacion has been doing this year in and year out. Bellinger, on the other hand, has one year under his belt. On top of that, the Houston Astros exposed a massive hole in Bellinger's swing that he either has to fix during this off-season, or he'll have a miserable campaign in 2018. Don't get us wrong: Bellinger could very well end up having a significantly better year than Encarnacion, but Encarnacion is the safer bet on draft day.

The Case for Freddie Freeman

Freddie Freeman hit 28 HR with 84 runs and 71 RBI last season... in 117 games played. Prorate those stats out to a full season and Freeman is on pace for 116 runs, 38 HR, 98 RBI and 10+ stolen bases. And he's doing this in Atlanta. Even better, the Braves may be much improved this year. They'll especially be more mature all through their lineup, giving Freddie Freeman more protection and more guys to drive in. And don't forget: Freeman already has 8 years of MLB experience under his belt and he's only going to be 28 years old this season. Draft him early and be willing to pay a good amount for him in an auction draft.

Are Last Year's Breakout First Basemen For Real?

The quick answer is, yes... mostly. Rhys Hoskins is for real. His pace last season is ridiculous, but expect 30-40 HR, 90 runs and 90 RBI out of him this season. Anything more than tat is gravy.

Justin Bour, to be honest, didn't surprise us at all last season, but it sure sucked to see his season get shortened by an injury. Last season, Bour was on pace for 78 runs, 38 HR and 125 RBI. In a depleted Miami Marlins lineup this season, we expect a drop-off to about 25-30 HR and 80-90 RBI.

For some reason, we just can't buy Justin Smoak's act after last season, although there's no rational reason why we shouldn't. Sure, he's never hit more than 20 home runs in a season before... and it's not like the Blue Jays' lineup was protecting him any more than any other lineup in his career. And he was 30 years old last season, so it's not like he had his breakout season at the usual 26 or 27 years old. But he's 6'4", 220, so maybe it all just came together for him. Whatever it is, we'll believe it when we see it again. Still, you can expect 20 HR out of him at the very least, we'd say, but draft him accordingly or make sure you get a relative bargain on him in an auction draft.