Fantasy Baseball First Basemen Breakdown: Top Performers, Overachievers and More

As May winds down, it's a good time to assess fantasy baseball players.

I wanted to start a series breaking down each position. Today, we'll kick things off by looking at fantasy first basemen.

We will look at the top performers, hot and cold starts and more. Let's dive in!

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Top Performers

Using settings and scoring from ESPN, Pete Alonso leads the way so far. 

He's followed closely by Freddie Freeman, Spencer Torkelson and Josh Naylor before there's a little gap. Paul Goldschmidt and Wilmer Flores are next, and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tyler Soderstrom and Matt Olson round out the top 10.

Alonso leads the way in total bases (98), with Freeman (94), Torkelson (92) and Soderstrom (91) all over 90 total bases. Torkelson leads first basemen with 32 runs scored - Goldschmidt is the only other guy over 30 runs scored (31).

Flores leads first basemen with 42 runs batted in. Torkelson has 39 RBIs, while Alonso has 37. Bryce Harper leads 1B with 33 walks, while Guerrero and Olson are at 30 walks each. 

Colorado's Michael Toglia has just 40 fantasy points on the season - he leads first basemen with 71 strikeouts. Nathaniel Lowe is the next closest at 57 punchouts, while Christian Walker has 55. 

Naylor is the top base stealer at the position, swiping eight bases so far. Harper has seven, while nobody else has over four.

Underperformers

Of the first basemen who were taken inside the top 10 at the position before the season, only a few don't sit in the top 10 right now.

Guerrero was taken first, so while he's underperformed to this point, he's at least avoided being a total bust. Freeman was taken second, so he's right up where he should be.

Harper was taken third, so him being fourth so far is a positive. Olson was taken fourth - him being 10th now is a bit disappointing, but is better than not being in the top 10 at all.

Alonso was taken fifth, and he's got a great chance to outperform that mark by the end of the season looking at where he is now. Luis Arraez was taken sixth, and he's currently outside the top 10 (12th, but only six points from Olson in 10th).

Naylor was drafted seventh overall at 1B on average, so him being in fifth now shows that he's been a great draft pick. Walker was taken eighth and currently sits 35th at the position. Walker has been a major draft bust, and he hasn't shown many signs of getting going yet.

Vinnie Pasquantino was drafted ninth, but currently sits in 18th at the position. He too has been a draft bust, but he's been trending up of late, so that's something at least.

Willson Contreras was the 10th catcher taken. He sits 20th right now, which is definitely disappointing, but him adding first base eligibility makes him a pretty valuable fantasy asset yet.

Overachievers

Torkelson wasn't even on our ADP list before the season, so to see him sitting third at the position is really something. We'll see if he can keep things rolling.

Goldschmidt was drafted at pick 184.47 on average, so him being in the top 10 shows he's surprised plenty of people. It's a nice bounceback season for Goldy, and there's hope that he can stick in the top 10 all season based on his big career and success in the past.

Flores was nowhere near fantasy relevance before the season. He too is enjoying a bounceback season, but lacks the sustained success that Goldschmidt has produced in the past.

Soderstrom was taken at pick 281.67 overall, so him being near the top of the position now is truly a breakout season. He's a young player, so his long-term outlook also got a pretty good boost.

Trending Up

Nolan Schanuel has a .491 on-base percentage and .378 average over the past 15 days. That covers 12 games and 45 at-bats. Schanuel is rostered in just 15% of leagues and had an ADP of 251.47, so he's outperforming expectations.

Vladdy Jr. has a .350 average and .490 OBP over his past 12 games and 40 at-bats. It's a good sign to see a top-end draft pick surging up after a slow start. He should keep climbing the overall 1B leaderboard as time rolls on.

Rhys Hoskins is hitting .381 and getting on base at a .460 clip over his past 13 games and 42 at-bats. His season-long numbers are really good too, so he's emerging as a fantasy asset.

Freeman has a .420 average and .446 OBP over his past 13 games and 50 at-bats. Freeman can produce several of these red-hot stretches during a season, and it's what helps him remain a top-end fantasy 1B year in and year out.

Harper has a .362 average and .429 OBP over his 13 games and 47 at-bats. It's always good to see the top-end fantasy stars delivering like one.

Torkelson has a .370 OBP and .317 average over his past 11 games and 41 at-bats. He just continues to produce, and at some point, you have to just take things how they are.

How to Proceed

The first base position has been a gold mine all season long so far.

Alonso, Freeman and Harper are top-end talents who are in the top five already. As long as they avoid long absences, that trio has a great chance of finishing inside the top five by the end of the season.

Naylor, Guerrero and Olson are other top-10 performers so far who should have no issues sticking in the top 10 for the rest of the season. 

Naylor has a bigger chance to fall than he does rise, but a top-five finish is certainly possible. Guerrero and Olson have really good chances to move up the first base leaderboard by the end of the season, and I'd be surprised if they don't.

In my eyes, Goldschmidt has a decent chance of sticking in the top 10 this season, but he's more likely to finish near No. 10 than he is No. 5.

The guy who is most likely to fall out of the top 10 is Flores. He's a sell-high trade candidate as a result.

Torkelson and Soderstrom are the unknowns. We don't have much history to go on with either guy. Torkelson seems more likely to stick in the top 10 given that he's ranked third so far, and is on a hot streak of late. Soderstrom might fall outside the top 10 eventually, so now is the time to cash in on him if you can.

Arraez, Contreras, Pasquantino and Walker are the big-name buy-low trade targets right now. Arraez and Contreras are my favorite targets of those four because they can fill in at multiple positions.

Schanuel is the most available waiver wire target, but Hoskins is the guy I'd prefer to add right now. It's worth checking the asking price on Vladdy, as he's trending up and maybe still could be acquired for a bit cheaper.

Some other first base options to keep tabs on moving forward are Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice and Yandy Diaz. They rank just outside the top 10 right now. Some others I like going forward (more so in deeper leagues) are: Hoskins, Schanuel, Colt Keith, Agustin Ramirez, Spencer Steer, Walker and Jake Burger.