Major League Baseball

Ranking the best 28 first basemen of 2023 in the MLB

Updated Mar. 2, 2023 3:52 p.m. ET

With the bulk of the MLB offseason behind us, the countdown for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training is on. In the meantime, we're beginning a series in which we tier the players at every position. First up, fittingly, is first base.

In each position we go through, we'll have the "Elite" tier, the "Almost Elite" tier, the "Really Good" tier, the "Pretty Solid" tier and "The Rest."

Elite: Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso

The first two players are obvious inclusions: Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman. We saw what Vlad Guerrero Jr. did in 2021. He was going to win an MVP award if not for some guy named Shohei Ohtani. Guerrero had a down year last year from what we've come to know him as, but he hit .274 with 32 homers. Vladdy Jr. is one of the better first basemen in baseball.

Pete Alonso is elite. He hit 40 homers last year and was tied for first in all of baseball in RBIs with Aaron Judge at 131. He had a higher batting average last year than Francisco Lindor and Mookie Betts. He was third in all of baseball in wRC+ (weighted runs created plus, which provides an overall indicator of a player's offensive production relative to the league environment).

MLB First Base Tiers: Paul Goldschmidt & Freddie Freeman headline The Elite

Ben Verlander and Alex Curry rank MLB's first basemen and have St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt, Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman, Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. & New York Mets' Pete Alonso in The Elite Tier.

Almost Elite: Matt Olson, Jose Abreu

These are two guys kind of going in opposite directions. I would've had Jose Abreu in the "Elite" category a couple of years ago when he won the 2020 AL MVP award. Abreu is still great, but the power numbers aren't there anymore. He hit 15 homers last year. He did hit over .300, but I just think he's coming down a little bit from where he was in that 2020 MVP year. "Almost elite" fits him to a tee.

Matt Olson's an interesting one because he's outstanding in the field. He has a ton of power. But he doesn't get on base a ton. He's either hitting homers or doubles or getting out. He's not a high-average guy. While he's still on the young side, I wouldn't consider him one of the game's elite first basemen.

MLB First Base Tiers: Matt Olson and Jose Abreu headline The Almost Elite

Ben Verlander and Alex Curry rank MLB's first basemen and have the Atlanta Braves’ Matt Olson and Houston Astros’ Jose Abreu in The Almost Elite Tier.

Really Good: Christian Walker, Luis Arráez, Nathaniel Lowe, Ty France, Rhys Hoskins, C.J. Cron, Anthony Rizzo, Joey Meneses

An under-the-radar player I think has potential to ascend: Christian Walker. He plays with the D-Backs, who are not a very high-profile team. I think Christian Walker is outstanding. He's improved offensively and won a Gold Glove in 2022.

I have a couple other names I want to mention here, including Rhys Hoskins. I think Hoskins is "Really Good" with the potential to go up to "Almost Elite." Let's look at last year: 30 home runs with 79 RBIs and a .246 average. The reason he wasn't a tier higher: the ebbs and flows of his year. He can have a stretch where he's not very good, and he can have stretches where he's "Elite" or "Almost Elite." I had to put him here in the "Really Good" category because I do believe he's a really good first baseman. I just don't believe he's yet an elite first baseman.

Another name that could really jump out at people — though the sample size is small — is Joey Meneses of the Washington Nationals. In very limited playing time last year, he hit .324 with 13 homers and 34 RBIs. He came up and was one of the better hitters in the game of baseball in 56 games. So, I believe heading into this year, Joey Meneses is a "Really Good" first baseman. He has the potential to slide down — or potentially move up and be one of the game's better first basemen. The Nationals aren't going to be an exciting team to watch, but be on the lookout for him.

MLB First Base Tiers: Ty France & Anthony Rizzo headline The Really Good

Ben Verlander and Alex Curry rank MLB's first basemen. The Seattle Mariners' Ty France, New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo are among those in the Pretty Good Tier.

Pretty Solid: Ryan Mountcastle, Seth Brown, Jake Cronenworth, Trey Mancini, Rowdy Tellez, Yuli Gurriel, Luke Voit, Joey Votto, Josh Naylor, Vinnie Pasquantino, Jared Walsh, Garrett Cooper, Isaac Paredes

One player I want to highlight is Yuli Gurriel. Coming off a 2021 season in which he won a Gold Glove Award and the AL batting title, he took a big step back last year. He's getting older and it felt like he was due for a step back. He hit .242 last year with eight homers and 53 RBIs.

Joey Votto, in my opinion, is a Hall of Famer as well as an elite person. I think before last year he was in a higher category, which was probably "Really Good" or "Almost Elite," but he took a big step back last year. He sustained a tough injury and he's getting older. This could be a big bounce-back year for him. I know he's putting in a lot of work. He's going to come back healthy. Last year, I think he wasn't quite as healthy.

I have to take into account what Mancini did at the end of last year — he wasn't the greatest toward the end, and then really struggled in the playoffs. I think Mancini is a really solid to good first baseman.

MLB First Base Tiers: Jake Cronenworth and more headline The Pretty Solid & The Rest

Ben Verlander and Alex Curry rank MLB's first basemen. Who rounds out the final two groups?

The Rest: Spencer Torkelson and others

I believe Torkelson could be great. As of right now, I don't have anything to go off of besides last year — and Torkelson hit .203 with eight homers as a rookie. So I couldn't put him anywhere, but the former No. 1 overall pick could very, very well slide up the list.

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @BenVerlander.

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