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Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2025 MLB season preview, ESPN's Buster Olney is bringing back his positional ranking series, in which he surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position. Today, we rank the best of the best at first base.
The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2025 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per day over the next two weeks. Here's the rest of the schedule: catchers (2/17), second basemen (2/19), third basemen (2/20), shortstops (2/21), corner outfielders (2/24), center fielders (2/25), designated hitters (2/26), starting pitchers (2/27) and relievers (2/28).
When you peruse the names of just about all of the first basemen in the top 10 on this list, you might notice a common denominator beyond the position they play. Freddie Freeman is one of the best left-handed hitters of his generation, but he throws right-handed. Bryce Harper bats left but throws right.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr . throws right-handed and so does Pete Alonso . In fact, only one of the top 10 first basemen is a left-handed thrower, which is strange because of the natural advantages a left-handed thrower has at the position -- quicker tags on pickoffs and better angles on throws to other bases.
Any list of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of the sport would have to include the defensive work of the best and smoothest first basemen in history, from Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly to J.T. Snow and Anthony Rizzo .
And yet the number of left-handed throwing first basemen has dropped significantly since 2000, as the numbers dug out by Sarah Langs show: 2001: 1,905 (games played by left-handed throwing 1B) 2006: 1,589 2011: 1,836 2016: 1,356 2021: 944 2024: 1,173 A platoon of evaluators -- from major league coaches to managers to general managers to those in player development, to Don Mattingly, who was one of the best left-handed throwing first basemen ever -- were asked about this trend and offered little beyond surprise. "I have no idea," one front-office type said. "It's not tied to any larger strategy.
" Another texted, "I can't think of a reason. Maybe it's just random?" One staffer noted that many first basemen are converted from other positions, often in the infield. Harper is an example of this: He was a catcher as an amateur, was shifted to the outfield by the Nationals, then moved to first base after having elbow surgery.
Matt Olson throws right-handed. Paul Goldschmidt throws right-handed. Both reigning Gold Glove winners, Christian Walker and Carlos Santana , throw right-handed.
Go figure. Now here are the Top 10 first basemen, based on feedback from evaluators: Continue reading this article and more from top writers, for only $11.99/mo.
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