TOP 10 First Basemen 2026

9. Ben Rice, New York Yankees

Ben Rice emerged as the Yankees first basemen slowly but surely throughout the 2025 season. It worked out perfectly to have Goldy in the building to help him develop at first base. When you look at Rice's savant page, it almost looks like his teammates Aaron Judge's with all the red circles on there. He is 97th percentile in the following: xwOBA, xSLG, and Hard Hit%. He is over 90th percentile in 5 other 'under the hood' statistics. The Only issue with Rice, is these haven't necessarily showed up on the field, or at least not yet. 26 homers is great, and an OPS of .836 is certainly great, it's still slightly underwhelming when you see what he is truly capable of. Will he tap into his power and bat skills? Most Likely, but it is hard to have him any higher until he puts up numbers that aren't relatively pedestrian for a first basemen that plays at Yankee Stadium.

8. Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles

Alonso shocked the baseball world when he decided to not resign with the Mets, not sign with a big market team in general, but sign with the Orioles? Perhaps he saw an avenue where he would be the premier player on the Orioles, if you just forget about Gunnar Henderson and assume none of their former top prospects turn out. Pete Alonso is 31 years old and is coming off one of his best seasons in the Majors. What was just said about Rice can be applied here with his potential, although Alonso's numbers were better with a 38 homer season, and a .871 OPS. Why is Pete lower than most would put him though? My formula didn't love his glove. an -9 OAA at first base is a little concerning for a 31 year old. While it's not important for a first basemen, but his baserunning is also worth -4 runs. I don't particularly see the glove or speed improving, and I find it slightly more likely that his bat regresses in his first season in a new ballpark. I could easily be wrong here, as Pete has been a consistently great player in the league.

7. Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays

First off, I want it to be known that I was high on Aranda going into the 2025 season. Don't believe me? Go to the first MLB Monthly from last season, and for my DH pick of players to watch, it was Aranda. Well, he was so good, that he basically stole the job from Yandy Diaz, a player that I personally am a fan of. When it comes to Aranda, he hits the ball very, very hard. He's terrific at pulling fly balls, smashing fastballs and offspeed pitches, and shockingly for a former DH, defense. It may only be 1 OAA, but when it comes to first basemen, that is certainly fine. I'm a fan of Aranda, and I think at age 27, he can certainly improve in a lot of areas, such as his strikeout rate. If he can cut down on strikeouts, he can keep up this level of production for a good while.

6. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies

Let me explain myself. I don't want this to be misinterpreted as I have little faith in the player Harper is, he is an elite player, and hall of famer. But heading into his age 34 season, I'm worried about his slow decline over the past few years. It's been hard to notice, considering he's gone from a top 10 player in the sport to just simply a really good one, but it's been slight, but it's also been consistent. His bat speed is going down, he's whiffing and chasing a little more, and his glove is just ok compared to it being really good like it used to be. He still walks at the same clip, still one of the best bat to ball players in the sport, there is just a small part of me that thinks that this regression continues into the 2026 season. If it doesn't, and he has a bounce back year to what he used to be, then I'm all in, but i'm concerned the glove won't improve too much, and the bat speed slows down even more. Part of this ranking is also that there are some new faces that I think are going to be great at first.

5. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

Boy, I am probably making a lot of people angry right now. I get it too, these have been guys who have been unquestioned top 3 players at the position for awhile now. But much like Harper, there is some regression in Freeman's game. Although this is probably the lowest I will ever have Freddie considering the pure hitter that he is. First off, his defense has been a steady decline for awhile, to the point where he has negative value with the glove. Most concerning to me about Freddie, is his walk rate is down, and his K rate is up. The fact that they both are regressing, means he is trying to sacrifice plate discipline for power, much like Joey Votto did in his final years. I hope he doesn't go for that approach considering his bat speed has never been his game. He is also whiffing and chasing a little more as well. These have all been gradual, and considering he is 36, it's going to be harder and harder for him every year he plays. I am rooting for the guy with all my heart, and he is coming off a .869 OPS season which is very very good, so even his regression is still a first basemen that 90% of the league would love to have.

4. Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs

This is a direct result of my formula I used to evaluate these players. The formula loved Busch, and when you look at the numbers compared to some of these other guys... It makes sense. Busch is getting better and better every season, and his numbers were on par with Freeman's last season. Freeman is more likely to regress, and Busch is more likely to improve. He has great barrel rates, great exit velo, and his whiff rate and K rate are getting better, which is something that makes you a lethal player when combined with the exit velocity.

3. Nick Kurtz, Athletics

I am all in on this kid. It could burn me, but this guy has all the tools to be the premier first basemen the league has to offer. Now a good rookie year is one thing, putting up solid production. It's a completely different thing when the advanced analytics are what they are for the guy. Exit velo, barrel %, hard-hit %, bat speed, launch angle, chase %, and BB % are all amung the top of the league, in his 22 year old rookie season. He is going to have this bat speed and exit velo's for a long time in his career, so his floor as a player is a 20 homer guy, .800 OPS. His ceiling is the sky, as he could get better at fielding, and could lower his strikeout %. That is what you can hold against him, is his strikeouts, his whiff %, and his glove, but I can confidently say that even if he simply repeats his rookie season, he is bare minimum a top 4 first basemen in the sport, but I really believe in this guy.

2. Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves

Matt Olson was quietly amazing last season, and better than the big names like Freeman and Harper. The formula loved Olson because he is arguably the best defender at first base in the league, which when you are 9 OAA, that does benefit your team, even if it's just a little bit. He walks a lot, he hits a lot of homers, and he is very consistent and doing that. His years have fluctuated, as his 2023 season was an all-timer, and his 2024 season he had a .790 OPS. I think naturally the Braves as a team will be better in 2026 with a healthy team, and I think when you have to pitch to Olson in this lineup, he is going to get more opportunity to do damage. Another thing is his biggest weakness as a hitter was always that he couldn't square up hits, as his squared-up% is very very poor, but last season it was well above average. I think he's got a lot of juice left in the tank, and I think the stars have aligned.