Rest-Of-Season First Base Rankings (September Update)

With the MLB regular season winding down, we begin to close in on the final stretch of your fantasy baseball championship run. We've collected some of the brightest baseball minds here at Rotoballer to deliver you our rest-of-season rankings analysis to help you secure your league title. Now that fantasy football is nearly in full swing, take advantage of distracted managers in your league by staying active on the waiver wire and staying on top of trending hitters.

Up next on the docket, we move over to an interesting mix of big boppers at first base.  The position is still top-heavy with Cody Bellinger and Freddie Freeman having had separated themselves from the pack a while ago but the real interest lies in the surprises below them. Rookie Peter Alonso and veteran Carlos Santana continue to make their move to the top tiers, while Rhys Hoskins continues to look for a home in lower and lower levels.

Let's jump on in.

Updated 1B Ranks - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (September)

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! 

Rankings Analysis - Top Tiers

Tier One

Forget about positional ranking, Los Angeles Dodger Cody Bellinger is top tier, period. Instead of some fancy analysis explaining just how good Bellinger has been this year, how about we just see how he's done compared to our consensus #1 player this year, Mike Trout?

2019 Mike Trout (567 PA): .293/.436/.651     43 HR   100 RBI   104 R   10 SB

2019 Cody Bellinger (550 PA): .309/.407/.648    42 HR   100 RBI   103 R   11 SB

Ummm...so...(He said, searching for reasons why he has Bellinger only ranked #5 overall) Cody Bellinger has been really, really good. Like, Mike Trout, really, really good.

The curse of having been a virtual metronome of fantasy production for so long is that no one is ever going to get all hyped about how awesome Freddie Freeman has been in 2019. As in, most people probably don't know that Freeman is having the best year of his career, from a fantasy standpoint. Leading all first basemen with 10 home runs in August, Freeman's 35 HR on the year are already a career-high, and with 105 RBI and 101 runs scored, Freeman should crest career highs in both categories within the week. Currently ranked #8 on Yahoo's Player Rater, Freeman just keeps crushing, whether we pay attention, or not.

Tier Two

It's really a shame that Peter Alonso's outstanding rookie year had to be derailed by the curse of the Home Run Derby because now Alonso only has 12 home runs since winning the Derby in July, tying him with Cody Bellinger for the third-most since then, among all first baseman. All of that is obviously ridiculous because the only thing cursed about Alonso are the metaphorical curses screamed by all the baseballs that he's crushing with maximum authority. The favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year, Alonso's 42 home runs on the year put him only one behind league-leader Mike Trout.

Tier Three

Everyone called then-catcher Carlos Santana a fool all those years ago after he proclaimed he would soon be the King of All Carlos Santanas, usurping the pretender who currently wears the crown. Forever weakened by his duet with Rob Thomas, the guitar-playing Santana may not be able to hold off the baseball-playing one, as Santana is in the middle of a career-year and is showing no signs of slowing down. Since the All-Star break, the once and current Cleveland Indian has 11 home runs, 27 RBI, and 35 runs scored, with a .280 AVG and 145 wRC+. All hail the one true king.

Now with 29 home runs on the year, including an electrifying six-game dinger streak at the end of July, Paul Goldschmidt is back, baby! Right? Except that he still only has a .258 AVG that's 40-points lower than his career average, as well as a miserable (for him) 108 wRC+. It's great and all that it looks like he'll get back to the same level of counting stats that he was at in 2018 (even those numbers were significantly down from seasons past) but for those who play in head-to-head formats, Goldschmidt's inconsistency is a likely bane on your existence.

Rankings Analysis - Middle Tiers

Tier Four

After the disaster of last year, in which he had a .199 BA and was ultimately demoted, it's hard to believe that Minnesota Twin Miguel Sano is back to being arguably a top-100 player. But numbers don't lie and since Sano returned from injury in mid-May, he's been an A+ smasher of baseballs, with 26 home runs and 57 RBI in only 341 plate appearances. And over his last dozen games, Sano has been on an even bigger heater, slashing .298/.389/.745 with six home runs and a 186 wRC+ in 54 PA.

Goodness Rhys Hoskins, what happened? The Philadelphia slugger has done a lot less slugging as of late, with only 25 HR on the year, after hitting 34 in 2018. But Hoskins has done most of his damage (to your team's power stats) in the months of summer, hitting only four home runs in July, and just two so far in August, as the month comes to a close.

Divergent opinions on Matt Olson and it looks like I'm the biggest hater, putting him all the way at # 16 among the first baseman. While he's had a solid year considering that he only returned from a broken hamate bone in May, Olson has put up pedestrian numbers since the All-Star break, relative to other first baseman. His seven home runs are tied for the 14th-most, while his 28 RBI (12th) and 18 Runs (21st) aren't exactly inspiring either.

Tier Five

So about home runs...Can-ha hit them? Yes, he can! The Oakland A's Mark Canha, that is. After hitting a quiet 17 home runs in 411 plate appearances last year, Canha has stepped his game up in 2019, hitting a career-high 22 HR in just 372 plate appearances. And just in time for the heat of the fantasy playoff season, Canha has been on fire in his last 10 games, slashing .439/.477.829 with five home runs and a .532 wOBA. Still only 51%-owned in Yahoo Leagues, there's a legitimate that you could go grab a top-150 player off the waiver wire in time for the stretch run of September.

At #179 overall, I should probably have Colorado infielder Ryan McMahon a little higher but I think the Rockies just have me conditioned to devalue their young players because you just never know when they might just demote them in favor of signing some has-been. But now McMahon has been playing regularly and has responded by posting a .920 OPS since the All-Star break, with 11 home runs and 32 RBI. Oh, he also plays 17 of his 29 remaining games at Coors Field. You know about Coors, right?

Tier Six

Welcome to the injured-Yankees portion of the first base rankings, with Luke Voit first on the agenda. The Bronx Bomber has been out since July 30 with a sports hernia but it appears that Voit has dodged the surgery bullet and should return to the major league club this weekend, after going 8-for-17, with two home runs in four rehab appearances. In 416 plate-appearances this year, Voit has 19 home runs with 54 RBI and 60 runs scored.

Even having been out since August 3 with a fracture in his wrist, New York Yankee Edwin Encarnacion is still #139 on Yahoo's Player Rater, having hit 30 home runs, with 76 RBI and 75 runs scored in his 451 plate appearances prior to being injured. Encarnacion has now resumed baseball activities and manager Aaron Boone claims that Yankee's June acquisition will be good to go "more sooner than later.

I may be from St. Louis but I just can't bring myself to rank Matt Carpenter in the top-300. The Cardinals third baseman is thus far #903 on the Yahoo Player Rater which is totally fair considering that he's slashing .217/.328/.370 on the year, with 12 home runs, 35 RBI and 52 runs scored, as well as a dismal 87 wRC+. And I just find it hard to believe that he has a patented Matt Carpenter hot-streak up his sleeve, seeing that he has a .224 AVG since returning from injury on August 4, with only two home runs.

Rankings Analysis - Lower Tiers

Tiers Seven And Eight

Age and decline have come for Joey Votto, whether he wishes to admit it, or not. Votto just returned from a short stay on the injured list for his hurt back, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. So, right back to the 2019 normal. On the season, Votto has a .259 AVG that's a 25-point drop from 2018, as well as being his lowest average since 2015. That bell is tolling for thee, Joey Votto. It tolls for thee.

Is there anyone who's been hurt more than their home ballpark in recent years, than Brandon Belt has been hurt by playing half of his games at the left-handed batter destroying Oracle Park?

2019 Brandon Belt (Home): .198/.326/.297   3 HR   75 wRC+

2019 Brandon Belt (Away): .253/.351/.456   11 HR   104 wRC+

Does anyone else daydream about Belt playing for New York, with Yankees Stadium league-leading 118 HR Park Factor for left-handers? Uhh, me neither.

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