Ranking the 10 Best First Basemen in Baseball

Sports Illustrated is ranking the top 10 players at each position. First up were the catchers, and today we're onto the first basemen.

Not so long ago, first baseman were seen as the lumbering hunks who were there to hit bombs and do what they could on defense. But the sport has further prioritized athleticism and the position has evolved as well. Now, in addition to providing punch at the plate, first baseman are asked to be slick-fielding, smooth-picking weapons out on the diamond. The current crop of standouts at the position is as deep as it's ever been, with a solid mix of veterans and rising stars establishing themselves as elite.

Here are the 10 best first baseman in Major League Baseball right now.

10. Ben Rice, Yankees

Rice showed enormous potential in his first full season last year by blasting 26 home runs and posting an .836 OPS. So far in 2026, he's raised that ceiling by authoring one of the most impressive offensive years across the league to this point and solidifying himself as an amazing complement to Aaron Judge. The lefty slugger is hitting .306 with 12 dingers and 27 RBI to rank in the top 10 of all three Triple Crown categories. He also leads the MLB in slugging (.678), OPS (1.093) and wRC+ (195) while anchoring first base for a Yankees side that jumped out to a hot start. It seems that he is just coming into his own and will likely rise up this list as time goes on.

9. Josh Naylor, Mariners

Perhaps a bit unheralded in national conversation, the heart and soul of the Mariners is a multi-faceted weapon who is coming off a year in which he helped lead Seattle to the American League Championship Series with grit and guile. Combined with his time with the Diamondbacks, Naylor put up a .816 OPS and drove in 92 runs. His coolest stat, however, comes from an unexpected spot. Despite a relative lack of footspeed, Naylor may be one of the most skilled base stealers in the sport. In 2025, he was successful on 30 of his 32 attempts. This winter, Naylor signed a five-year, $92.5 million deal to remain with the Mariners. He's off to a slow start in 2026, slashing .255/.317/.383, but his track record suggests he'll get rolling soon.

8. Willson Contreras, Red Sox

Free of the burden of donning the tools of ignorance, Contreras's offense has excelled since making the shift from catcher to first base in 2025. The Cardinals traded the veteran to the Red Sox this winter, and he's been one of the few offensive bright spots for Boston in 2026. Contreras is currently leading the team in home runs (eight), RBIs (23), wRC+ (135) and fWAR (1.4), while carrying an .846 OPS. He's also using his incredible athleticism to pick it at the bag and is a crucial part of an extremely dynamic defense. At 34, the positional swap may prolong what has been an impressively productive career both on the field and at the plate.

7. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

The 36-year-old continues to improve his Hall of Fame case by staying wildly productive and winning championships. MLB's active leader in hits (2,471) is a veteran leader on a team going for its third consecutive World Series and garners MVP consideration even in an immensely talented clubhouse. Though it's entirely possible he's moved past his peak, over the past two seasons he's slashed .289/.372/.489 with a wRC+ of 138 and 7.8 fWAR. He's started 2026 slowly by his standards, slashing .267/.333/.427 with a 114 wRC+. Still, plenty of teams would take that level of production from their first baseman. Then there's the notion that there might not be another player Dave Roberts would want to see at the plate with a game on the line.

6. Nick Kurtz, Athletics

All Kurtz did in 2025 was burst onto the scene to win the American League Rookie of the Year, a Silver Slugger and rank 12th in AL MVP voting. That's what happens when you smack 36 homers in 116 games and finish the year with a ridiculous 1.002 OPS. It appears none of that was a fluke as the second-year player is off to another solid start in ’26 with an .841 OPS fueled by 38 walks. Since he debuted last April, only reigning MVPs Aaron Judge (194) and Shohei Ohtani (165) have a higher wRC+ than Kurtz's 161. The 23-year-old flirted with breaking a long-standing MLB record for drawing a walk in the most consecutive games earlier this month and has the young Athletics alone atop the AL West.

5. Munetaka Murakami, White Sox

Murakami has been everything the White Sox had hoped and more as he is currently second in the American League in home runs (15) and RBIs (29). Now, he is also leading all of baseball with 60 strikeouts, and there's a chance his contact issues will catch up t ohim. But for now, it's time to celebrate the South Side's slugger, who has helped breathe life back into a franchise desperate to regain some relevance. An international free agent out of Japan, Murakami didn't generate the kind of interest he expected and settled for a two-year, $34 million deal with Chicago. He's far outpacing that contract. The 26-year-old rookie's .920 OPS comes despite having a single double to go with all his longballs, so finding a few of those will go a long way. He has already produced 1.3 fWAR, and his 149 wRC+ is second among AL first basemen.

4. Pete Alonso, Orioles

Now authoring his second act in Charm City, Alonso has eight home runs for Baltimore and is waiting to catch fire. His rocky start has seen him slash .214/.313/.435 with a wRC+ of 111, but the Orioles gave him a five-year, $155 million contract because of his track record. His future Hall of Fame candidacy is up for debate. Before you dismiss it, take a deeper look. The slugger, a pure ironman for many years, is one of the more reliable home run threats in the game. The 31-year-old has played in at least 152 games every season of his career, other than the shortened 2020 campaign. He's seeking his fifth straight All-Star nod and could push past 34 round trippers this year for the seventh time in eight years. After seven seasons in Queens, Alonso departed as the Mets' all-time leader in home runs (264), and his 14.2 at-bats per home run ratio ranks 13th in MLB history. He's a safe bet to top 34 homers again this year.

3. Bryce Harper, Phillies

At 33 years old, Bryce Harper is still a threat at the plate and is a model of consistency. From 2023 to ’25, the eight-time All-Star and two-time NL MVP slashed .280/.376/.505 with a wRC+ of 139 and 12.0 fWAR. Both of those last two numbers were third among MLB first basemen despite dealing with a litany of nagging injuries, including recovery from Tommy John surgery. Harper is back to his slugging ways in 2026 as a bright spot in the Phillies' ugly early season. He's hitting .281 with a .938 OPS, 10 home runs and 24 RBIs, and ranks eighth in the NL with a 159 wRC+. Harper is a future Hall of Famer and doesn't look like he'll slow down any time soon.

2. Matt Olson, Braves

At 32 years old, Matt Olson is off to the best start of his career in 2026. The three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner led the NL in home runs and RBIs in '23 and is on pace to do it again. Through 41 games, he tops the league in homers (14), RBIs (36), runs (36), slugging (.654), OPS (1.031), wRC+ (181) and fWAR (2.4). Not a bad place to be a quarter of the way through the season. Since arriving in Atlanta before the 2022 season, Olson is first among MLB first basemen in slugging (.514), second in home runs (160) and fWAR (19.4), and fourth in wRC+ (137). While those numbers are outstanding, Olson’s most important ability is his availability. He is MLB’s active leader in consecutive games played at 823, in a streak that began on May 2, 2021. It is the 10th longest streak in MLB history and he’s seven games from passing Eddie Yost from ninth place. He’s baseball’s current iron man while simultaneously being the NL’s best hitter.

1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays

After the way he performed leading the Blue Jays to the World Series last season, there is no other option than Guerrero for the top spot on this list. During the 2025 postseason, Vladdy Jr. had one of the all-time great playoff runs. He hit .397 with a 1.289 OPS, with eight home runs, 15 RBIs, and 18 runs scored. The 27-year-old also walked 14 times against just seven strikeouts. It was remarkable and tracked with the hitting performance that has made him a five-time All-Star and three-time first team All-MLB pick. Since moving to first base full-time in 2021, Guerrero ranks first at the position in xwOBA (.390), third in wRC+ (143), and fourth in batting average (.294), on-base percentage (.373), slugging (.502) and fWAR (21.0). So far this season, he’s slashing .308/.395/.397 with two home runs and a 125 wRC+. Like Olson, Guerrero is all the more valuable because he plays almost every day. Over the past six-plus seasons he has been in the lineup for 892 of a possible 910 games.

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