2026 Position Previews: First Base
A detailed look at first base for 2026 fantasy baseball leagues
View all position previews posts here.
Overview
There are plenty of homers and RBI at first base. You typically get the guys who can hit for power but not do a ton else over there. The best athletes end up in the outfield or at shortstop.
So you’ll have to get your steals elsewhere. And you won’t find a ton of great batting averages here, either. And that makes this position pretty easy to sort through. We also find pretty nice replacement options at this position. The difference between a tier two first baseman this year and a tier five or six guy this year is not the same as what we’ll see at shortstop or in the outfield.
Let’s get through these tiers. We’ll talk about points leagues and my red/yellow/green targets as well after we get through them all.
Tier One
1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
2 | Nick Kurtz
You can click these player names to be taken to the individual player write-up I did on them during the team previews series. My analysis will be more brief here since it’s already been done elsewhere.
In every draft, you’ll see one of these two as the first guy off the board at the position. And it can go either way. I give the nod to Vlad just because of the safety. But Kurtz offers production that Vlad probably can’t replicate.
Kurtz could clear Vlad in every category. He basically did that on a per-game basis last year.
They both hit around .290, they both had OBPs around .375, but Kurtz outslugged Vlad like crazy. His 13.5 PA/HR was elite. By those numbers, it’s not close.
I’d have confident money on Vlad going 20-30 points above Kurtz in batting average this year. The downsides that come with Kurtz are well-documented. He struck out a lot and did not do much of anything against lefties.
If one of those guys is a game-changing fantasy bat, it’s Kurtz. But if one of those guys is a pick you end up really regretting in the second round, it’s also Kurtz.
Tier Two
3 | Pete Alonso
4 | Bryce Harper
5 | Ben Rice
6 | Matt Olson
I don’t see a ton of difference between these four, and that’s where this trend at first base starts. Lots of power and RBI potential, but questionable batting averages and few steals.
Ben Rice has the ceiling that comes with being young and relatively unknown, and he has that ridiculous statcast page from last year. If anybody here goes nuclear for 45 bombs and a .280 batting average, it’s probably him. But you’ll be using at catcher, anyway, so he almost shouldn’t even be in this post. But I think the most likely scenario is that he ends up doing basically what you get out of Matt Olson, with fewer games played.
So I think they’re all about the same, and I’d be happy to take any of the four that fall. There are a lot of dudes I like later than this, as we’ll see, but I can’t make a great case against anybody. And if Bryce Harper is going to fall to the sixth round, he’s not getting past me. That’s how I approach it. I’m fine with missing out on the first six first baseman, but if any of them fall, I’ll jump in.
Points league boost to Harper. You could make a case for him at the third first baseman in those leagues.
Tier Three
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