Has there been a position that has seen more promising players struggle than first base? While it is a deep position, would anyone have predicted prior to the season that Adam Lind, Gaby Sanchez and Ike Davis would all fall short of the Top 20? Without them, let’s take a look at how things currently stand:
- Miguel Cabrera – Detroit Tigers
- Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
- Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds
- Adrian Gonzalez – Boston Red Sox
- Prince Fielder – Detroit Tigers
- Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves
- Paul Konerko – Chicago White Sox
- Carlos Santana – Cleveland Indians
- Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
- Mike Napoli – Texas Rangers
- Eric Hosmer – Kansas City Royals
- Edwin Encarnacion – Toronto Blue Jays
- Michael Cuddyer – Colorado Rockies
- Michael Young – Texas Rangers
- Adam Dunn – Chicago White Sox
- Adam LaRoche – Washington Nationals
- Mark Trumbo – Los Angeles Angels
- Lucas Duda – New York Mets
- Bryan LaHair – Chicago Cubs
- Justin Morneau – Minnesota Twins
Currently on the DL – Lance Berkman, Ryan Howard, Michael Morse, Mark Reynolds
Recently Demoted to Triple-A – Gaby Sanchez, Adam Lind
Thoughts:
- The start for Mark Teixeira is really starting to get worrisome, but when you look at it closely things are screaming of poor luck. He’s actually hitting fewer balls in the air then he has in recent years (entering Tuesday he was at 37.1%), has the lowest HR/FB of his career (10.2%) and was making the best contact of his career (12.2% strikeout rate). Granted, he’s not drawing walks (6.7% walk rate), but with these numbers the well below average BABIP of .228 appears to be the explanation to his troubles. A notoriously slow starter, one would think that he would get on track before long. While he has to drop down the rankings as compared to our preseason rankings, don’t be surprised to see him move back up quickly.
- Obviously Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli have much more value to fantasy owners as catchers. That said, they have eligibility at 1B and, with their bats and the struggles of many options, they have to be considered among better players at the position.
- Edwin Encarnacion has struggled a bit in May, hitting .189, but he has still contributed 5 HR and 14 RBI. Before we panic, he’s not striking out a ton (19.3%) and is getting a lot of poor luck (.167 BABIP). That would indicate a rebound coming, but when you look at his fly ball rate there is a little bit of concern that he won’t be able to maintain a positive BABIP (59.3% in May). He has sell high written all over him.
- While Adam Dunn is looking like the player he has in year’s past, keep in mind that his strikeouts are still elevated, even for him (34.1%) and the HR/FB is by far a career best (31.8%). Don’t be surprised to see a regression in his future.
Make sure to check out all of our recent rankings:
- Catchers (as of 5/10/12)
- Second Basemen (as of 5/19/12)
- Third Basemen (as of 5/11/12)
- Closers (as of 5/24/12)
where does butler rank on that list? I would of thought trumbo would be higher, is his fielding dragging him down or is he due for major regression?
Wow, no LaRoche in those rankings? Am I missing something?
Billy Butler?
For the Billy Butler comments, he doesn’t have 1B eligibility in most formats. Only played 11 games there last season and 3 thus far this season, so that’s why he’s not on the list. If he were eligible, he’d be in the 8-10 range.
In regards to Trumbo, he’s benefited from a .389 BABIP. There’s a regression coming.
For LaRoche, that was an oversight and I do apologize for that. While I don’t think he’s a tremendous option, he definitely belongs and I’ve updated the rankings to include him.
Why is Santana ranked in front of Napoli on this list, but switched on the catchers list?
The rankings were done 2 weeks apart, so keep that in mind. I would flip the two on the catcher rankings also, though it’s irrelevant. Looks like Santana is headed to the DL.