{"numbering":"no_numbering","slides":[{"title":"1. Freddie Freeman (Atl)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Freeman_F_Getty_1228247646_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

The unquestioned best first baseman in baseball. Freeman is one of the game's best, most clutch, most dangerous hitters. There's no stopping or replicating his consistently powerful line-drive approach to the opposite field.

Freeman hit .341 this season. Over the last five years, he's hit .306/.400/.557 and averaged 45 doubles, 34 homers and 108 RBI per 162 games.

Freeman has 52 more hits and 12 more doubles than any first baseman since 2018.

"},{"title":"2. Jose Abreu (CHW)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Abreu_J_Getty_1278198683_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1601988528,"caption":"

Abreu is the AL MVP frontrunner this season. He hit .317 with 19 homers, led all of baseball with 60 RBI and led the AL with a .617 slugging percentage. He is the veteran thumper among all of that young White Sox talent.

In seven seasons in Chicago, Abreu has hit .294 with an .870 OPS.

"},{"title":"3. Luke Voit (NYY)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Voit_L_Getty_1228916294_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

Yankees breakout slugger of the last two seasons. Voit led the majors this season with 22 homers.

In 174 games since the start of 2019, Voit has 43 homers and 114 RBI.

He and D.J. LeMahieu carried the Yankees' offense for a bulk of the summer with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres missing so much time.

"},{"title":"4. Paul Goldschmidt (STL)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Goldschmidt_P_Getty_1228839382_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

When Hoskins first came up, people mentioned Goldschmidt's name because of Hoskins' power and selectivity at the plate. But Goldschmidt, despite being six years older than Hoskins, is still the better hitter, fielder and runner.

Goldschmidt had a relatively quiet first year in St. Louis but had a resurgent two months in 2020, hitting .304 with a .417 OBP. He homered twice in the Best of 3 playoff loss to the Padres.

"},{"title":"5. Pete Alonso (NYM)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Alonso_P_Getty_1273790709_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

Alonso slumped for much of the summer after leading the majors with 53 home runs and winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2019.

He had a huge final week when the Mets were basically done. But in his first 51 games, he hit .202/.298/.415.

It was a step back, but he's still a powerful (and inexpensive) hitter in his mid-20s. He's still one of the game's most impactful first basemen.

The Mets benefited from having the DH this season. Alonso started 38 games at first base and Dom Smith started the other 22. Smith would rank high on this list, too, if he was an everyday first baseman.

Smith crushed the Phillies in the 10 games this season, going 18 for 43 (.419) with six doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 RBI.

"},{"title":"6. Anthony Rizzo (CHC)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Rizzo_A_Getty_1161846160_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

Rizzo, like almost every veteran Cubs hitter, struggled this season. He hit .222 with a .755 OPS.

That Cubs offense just looks stale. Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber all disappointed this summer as well. They have to shake things up.

Still, Rizzo has a lengthy track record that means more than 250 plate appearances over two months. From 2014-19 he hit .284 with a .901 OPS, and also played good defense. He's a tough, annoying out.

"},{"title":"7. Rhys Hoskins (Phi)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Hoskins_R_Getty_1228410343_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

Hoskins exploded this summer after a lengthy slump that dated back to the 2019 All-Star break. He was the Phillies' hottest hitter in the 30-game span before his season-ending elbow injury.

From August 9 through September 11, Hoskins hit .298 with 10 homers, 8 doubles, 24 RBI and 30 runs scored. It turned around his season and perhaps his future in the organization.

Hoskins' swing looked markedly better during that stretch, with him using the whole field as opposed to trying to pull everything.

There are still plenty of Phillies fans who think Hoskins is too passive at the plate. You have to keep in perspective the landscape of first basemen. He's still Top 10 at the position offensively.

His OPS was 37% better than the league average this season and is 25% better for his career.

"},{"title":"8. Brandon Belt (SF)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Belt_B_Getty_1277477721_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

The two veteran Brandons were productive this summer for Gabe Kapler's Giants, who would have made the playoffs by winning on the final day of the regular season. Both Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford had the highest slugging percentage of their careers in the shortened season.

Belt has won two World Series with the Giants but his production would still be classified as quiet. He is a difficult out known for extending ABs. He flies under the radar because he's not a 30-homer guy, but since 2015 he's hit .261/.363/.456 and played strong defense.

He's also lost dozens and dozens of home runs playing at Oracle Park. His career numbers would look much different elsewhere.

"},{"title":"9. Eric Hosmer (SD)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Hosmer_E_Getty_1228814123_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

Hosmer is similar to Belt — accomplished left-handed bat who is more of a doubles guy than a home run hitter. A player who can capably hit fifth or sixth for you but shouldn't be your main run producer.

He's in a good role in San Diego where he can let Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado be "the guys" and he can do damage behind them as he did this season, hitting .300 with runners in scoring position.

"},{"title":"10. Matt Olson (Oak)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Olson_M_Getty_1278197626_0.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":"","caption":"

A lot of Oakland's best players are unheralded nationally. Matt Chapman rightfully gets his love at this point for being a dynamic two-way player, but guys like Ramon Laureano, Matt Olson and Mark Canha make more of an impact than they're given credit for.

Olson has hit 79 home runs the last three seasons, the most by any first baseman in all of baseball. You could ask 100 baseball fans who leads 1B in homers over that span and one or two might say Olson.

"},{"title":"11. Yuli Gurriel (Hou)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Gurriel_Y_Getty_1278324320_0.jpg","credit":"","published":"","caption":"

Steady Astros first baseman who hits for average and had a career year in the power department in 2019 with 31 HR and 104 RBI.

Gurriel is the only first baseman other than Freeman to hit at least .290 every year from 2017 through 2019.

"},{"title":"12. Josh Bell (Pit)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Bell_J_Getty_1277438402.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1601989353,"caption":"

Bell would be much higher on this list if all that mattered was 2019, when he hit .277/.367/.569 with 37 doubles, 37 homers and 116 RBI.

But that was the only year he's been an elite offensive performer. In his other four seasons, he's hit .255 with a .426 slugging percentage. The 2020 season was his worst.

"},{"title":"13. Joey Votto (Cin)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Votto_J_Getty_1277161486.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1601989562,"caption":"

The name is bigger than the offensive production at this point.

The 37-year-old Votto has homered once every 38 plate appearances the last three seasons compared to once every 19 PA the year before.

Over that span, he has a very high on-base percentage (.382) but has hit .265 without much power. Imagine Hoskins, just with 25-30 more points of batting average but a lot less power.

Votto still has two of the most disciplined eyes in baseball but that's the basis of his offensive package at this point.

"},{"title":"14. Christian Walker (Ari)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Walker_C_Getty_1276704156.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1601989580,"caption":"

Norristown kid and Kennedy-Kenrick grad has finally found solid footing as he approaches his 30th birthday.

A former fourth-round pick of the Orioles, Walker has seized the first base job in Arizona by hitting 44 doubles and 36 homers since 2019. He was the D-backs' best hitter this season.

"},{"title":"15. Carlos Santana (Cle)","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Santana_C_Getty_1277439730.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1601989596,"caption":"

Santana led the American League in walks this season but hit .199. Sound familiar?

"}]}

Ranking the Top 15 MLB first basemen