May First Baseman and DH Rankings

Here is the May edition of my rest-of-season position rankings and overall top 300 for 5x5 leagues. I’m using five-game eligibility, so plenty of players have added new positions since Opening Day. Because I love you, I’ve also tweaked the top 300 to include previous rankings this year.

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Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C

First Baseman and Designated Hitter Rankings

May	First basemen	Team	April
1 DH	Shohei Ohtani	Dodgers	1 DH
1	Freddie Freeman	Dodgers	1
2	Matt Olson	Braves	2
3	Bryce Harper	Phillies	4
4	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	Blue Jays	3
5	Pete Alonso	Mets	5
6	Josh Naylor	Guardians	7
7	Spencer Steer	Reds	11
2 DH	Marcell Ozuna	Braves	3 DH
8	Cody Bellinger	Cubs	6
9	Christian Walker	Diamondbacks	13
10	Alec Bohm	Phillies	17
11	Vinnie Pasquantino	Royals	12
12	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	Reds	10
13	Paul Goldschmidt	Cardinals	9
3 DH	Eloy Jimenez	White Sox	2 DH
14	Isaac Paredes	Rays	18
15	Ryan Mountcastle	Orioles	20
16	Rhys Hoskins	Brewers	21
17	Spencer Torkelson	Tigers	14
18	Salvador Perez	Royals	25
19	Jeimer Candelario	Reds	15
20	Justin Turner	Blue Jays	22
21	Yandy Diaz	Rays	16
22	Jake Cronenworth	Padres	33
23	Nathaniel Lowe	Rangers	24
24	Jake Burger	Marlins	15 3B
25	Luis Arraez	Marlins	10 2B
4 DH	J.D. Martinez	Mets	5 DH
26	Anthony Rizzo	Yankees	23
27	Ryan O’Hearn	Orioles	35
28	Michael Busch	Cubs	23 3B
29	Josh Bell	Marlins	26
30	Alex Kirilloff	Twins	30
31	Andrew Vaughn	White Sox	19
32	Ty France	Mariners	29
33	Brandon Drury	Angels	28
34	Matt Mervis	Cubs	52
5 DH	Heston Kjerstad	Orioles	7 DH
35	Triston Casas	Red Sox	8
36	Kyle Manzardo	Guardians	38
37	DJ LeMahieu	Yankees	31
38	Joey Meneses	Nationals	6 DH
39	Garrett Cooper	Red Sox	42
40	Miguel Sano	Angels	58
6 DH	Andrew McCutchen	Pirates	8 DH
41	Gavin Sheets	White Sox	57
42	LaMonte Wade Jr.	Giants	39
43	Mark Canha	Tigers	111 OF
7 DH	Jonathan Aranda	Rays	10 DH
44	Nolan Schanuel	Angels	32
45	Jose Abreu	Astros	27
46	Elehuris Montero	Rockies	36
47	Ezequiel Duran	Rangers	35 3B
48	Rowdy Tellez	Pirates	34
49	Luke Raley	Mariners	37
50	Carlos Santana	Twins	41
8 DH	Mark Vientos	Mets	11 DH
51	J.D. Davis	Athletics	39 3B
52	Connor Joe	Pirates	55
9 DH	Harold Ramirez	Rays	9 DH
54	David Fry	Guardians	28 C
53	Jon Singleton	Astros	82
55	Joey Gallo	Nationals	43
56	Donovan Solano	Padres	49
57	Tyler Nevin	Athletics	90 3B
58	Dominic Smith	Red Sox	61
59	Wilmer Flores	Giants	46
60	Ryan Noda	Athletics	40

Dropping off: Brandon Belt (No. 44), C.J. Cron (No. 45), Bobby Dalbec (No. 47), Gio Urshela (48th), Keston Hiura (No. 50), Joey Votto (No. 51), Cavan Biggio (No. 53), Darick Hall (No. 54)

• I have downgraded my expectations for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. some. It genuinely seems like Rogers Centre has turned into a tougher home run park for right-handed hitters since last year’s changes, and it’s been especially problematic for Guerrero, due to his proclivity for line-drive homers. That said, I think he’s a nice buy-low candidate at this point. He’s still hitting the ball very hard; his 106.1 mph average on the top-50 percent of his balls in play is third highest in baseball. He’s striking out more than usual, but not alarmingly so. His groundball rate has also come down some in recent days. Things should get a whole lot better.

• After previously trying him at second base, in center field and at third base, the Brewers decided to make Tyler Black a first baseman this season, playing him there in 18 of his 19 starts in the field before calling him up for the first time Tuesday. One imagines he’ll take over as their first baseman against righties, with Rhys Hoskins DHing most of the time. Black is a strong prospect anyway, but what makes him really interesting for fantasy purposes is his stolen base ability; he was 55-for-67 in 123 minor league games last year. He’s not at all likely to run like that in the majors, but the all-around game makes him a nice option in mixed leagues, even though he’ll probably sit versus lefties initially.

• The Guardians probably should have just gone with Kyle Manzardo initially, but it’s extremely obvious that he belongs in the majors now after going 15-for-38 with six homers in his last 10 games for Triple-A Columbus. I expect that Manzardo will be a fringy mixed-league option when he gets the call, but that’s more than can be said the team’s alternatives in the DH spot. He’ll also be a defensive upgrade at first base, with Josh Naylor typically serving as the DH.