Best First Basemen in MLB 2026

Source MLB StatcastThrough Oct 25, 202660 ranked first basemenRatings refreshed nightly

Ben Rice is the highest-rated first baseman in MLB 2026 on Legends Deck, at 95 overall. The top three are Ben Rice, Willson Contreras, Nick Kurtz, ranked by a percentile transform of real 2026 Statcast data. Every player here is a playable card.

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Best first basemen2026 · 60 ranked

Every first baseman who played an MLB game in 2026, ranked by Legends Deck card rating, with team, batting stats and Statcast numbers.
#	Player	OVR ▾	AVG	OPS	HR	RBI	SB	Barrel%	Exit Velo
1	Ben Rice	95	0.264	0.897	41	97	3	14.3%	91.9	View card ›
2	Willson Contreras	91	0.275	0.902	27	81	3	13.3%	89.8	View card ›
3	Nick Kurtz	90	0.256	0.879	21	69	7	18.0%	93.4	View card ›
4	Bryce Harper	89	0.269	0.865	29	87	7	10.3%	90.0	View card ›
5	Jake Bauers	89	0.266	0.873	26	86	11	14.0%	92.1	View card ›
6	Matt Olson	88	0.251	0.823	41	93	4	14.2%	92.5	View card ›
7	Pete Alonso	88	0.267	0.885	43	113	5	15.3%	93.9	View card ›
8	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	87	0.260	0.688	9	57	7	6.9%	90.3	View card ›
9	TJ Rumfield	86	0.300	0.843	16	73	0	5.0%	84.3	View card ›
10	Alec Burleson	85	0.279	0.816	26	116	4	11.3%	92.0	View card ›
11	Freddie Freeman	85	0.288	0.792	16	70	7	8.1%	89.5	View card ›
12	Bryce Eldridge	84	0.269	0.825	17	57	1	11.5%	92.7	View card ›
13	Ty France	83	0.295	0.865	21	72	1	9.1%	91.5	View card ›
14	Jonathan Aranda	81	0.274	0.792	22	92	0	9.9%	91.1	View card ›
15	Yandy Díaz	79	0.293	0.805	22	85	3	7.1%	90.9	View card ›
16	Justin Foscue	79	0.271	0.816	11	34	0	10.4%	89.3	View card ›
17	Michael Busch	78	0.242	0.745	20	77	3	9.1%	88.4	View card ›
18	Coby Mayo	77	0.228	0.758	24	63	4	13.5%	91.3	View card ›
19	Joc Pederson	77	0.235	0.816	26	53	2	11.3%	92.1	View card ›
20	Vinnie Pasquantino	77	0.249	0.761	17	63	5	9.5%	90.0	View card ›
21	Ryan O'Hearn	77	0.265	0.770	18	76	1	6.8%	89.1	View card ›
22	Curtis Mead	77	0.253	0.851	17	48	6	10.9%	88.0	View card ›
23	Nolan Schanuel	76	0.276	0.736	7	49	1	2.4%	87.4	View card ›
24	Christian Walker	76	0.226	0.726	29	87	0	9.6%	89.0	View card ›
25	Andrew Vaughn	76	0.306	0.834	6	43	0	5.1%	90.1	View card ›
26	Aaron Sabato	75	0.000	0.000	0	0	0	—	—	View card ›
27	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	74	0.277	0.838	11	39	1	14.0%	89.5	View card ›
28	Spencer Steer	74	0.238	0.740	16	40	3	12.4%	89.7	View card ›
29	Nick Sogard	74	0.255	0.727	5	19	1	4.8%	86.8	View card ›
30	Spencer Torkelson	74	0.230	0.766	26	77	1	12.2%	89.5	View card ›
31	Paul Goldschmidt	73	0.252	0.765	18	52	1	9.9%	86.8	View card ›
32	Jake Burger	72	0.228	0.723	28	90	4	12.3%	90.1	View card ›
33	Spencer Horwitz	68	0.244	0.708	10	49	1	5.7%	86.8	View card ›
34	Andrés Chaparro	68	0.263	0.885	13	39	0	13.1%	89.9	View card ›
35	Josh Bell	66	0.255	0.738	21	96	2	9.6%	89.9	View card ›
36	Nathaniel Lowe	66	0.252	0.761	17	64	0	8.4%	89.6	View card ›
37	Yohandy Morales	66	0.255	0.851	4	10	1	15.6%	91.7	View card ›
38	Romy Gonzalez	64	0.185	0.572	1	7	1	4.4%	87.6	View card ›
39	Endy Rodríguez	64	0.267	0.840	7	20	6	10.6%	92.4	View card ›
40	Josh Naylor	62	0.261	0.667	10	57	30	4.4%	87.0	View card ›
41	Blaze Jordan	62	0.247	0.658	3	28	0	10.1%	88.4	View card ›
42	Ryan Mountcastle	60	0.286	0.690	0	1	0	0.0%	90.0	View card ›
43	Dominic Smith	57	0.253	0.694	9	46	0	5.8%	87.8	View card ›
44	Eric Wagaman	56	0.191	0.588	2	5	0	5.7%	84.8	View card ›
45	CJ Kayfus	56	0.182	0.644	1	2	0	21.4%	92.8	View card ›
46	Buddy Kennedy	56	0.116	0.364	0	1	0	10.7%	84.4	View card ›
47	Kyle Manzardo	54	0.215	0.684	13	39	0	12.0%	89.5	View card ›
48	Trey Mancini	54	0.308	0.748	0	4	0	18.2%	90.5	View card ›
49	Patrick Wisdom	53	0.106	0.351	1	4	0	19.2%	92.7	View card ›
50	Pavin Smith	51	0.183	0.556	3	12	2	4.7%	87.6	View card ›
51	Rhys Hoskins	50	0.179	0.682	13	38	1	12.6%	89.4	View card ›
52	Carlos Santana	50	0.083	0.279	0	0	0	0.0%	87.8	View card ›
53	David Fry	50	0.201	0.677	8	20	0	6.5%	86.3	View card ›
54	Michael Toglia	49	0.115	0.371	0	1	0	0.0%	91.6	View card ›
55	Abimelec Ortiz	46	0.188	0.572	5	14	0	7.5%	89.7	View card ›
56	Tyler Locklear	45	0.278	0.801	1	6	1	14.3%	83.8	View card ›
57	LaMonte Wade Jr.	44	0.205	0.654	4	19	0	3.3%	86.4	View card ›
58	Joey Meneses	42	0.150	0.430	0	2	0	0.0%	92.7	View card ›
59	Connor Joe	41	0.179	0.597	1	3	2	8.3%	92.5	View card ›
60	Rowdy Tellez	38	0.200	0.773	1	4	0	28.6%	91.8	View card ›

Best first basemen seasons, all-time

The best single seasons by a first baseman, 2,220 qualified seasons since 1875, ranked by OPS+ (100 x OBP/lgOBP + SLG/lgSLG - 1, same league-season, no park adjustment). Swipe the table sideways on mobile; filter by era below.

Era

Showing 160 of 160 ranked seasons

Best first basemen seasons, all-time: era-adjusted single-season leaderboard, Lahman 1871-2025
#	Player	Year	Team	OPS+	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	SB	PA
1	Lou Gehrig	1927	NYA	227	.474	.765	47	175	10	717
2	Mark McGwire	1998	SLN	225	.470	.752	70	147	1	681
3	Jimmie Foxx	1932	PHA	221	.469	.749	58	169	3	701
4	Willie McCovey	1969	SFN	219	.453	.656	45	126	0	623
5	Dan Brouthers	1886	DTN	218	.445	.581	11	72	21	555
6	Jeff Bagwell	1994	HOU	217	.451	.750	39	116	15	479
7	Norm Cash	1961	DET	214	.487	.662	41	132	11	672
8	Dick Allen	1972	CHA	213	.420	.603	37	113	19	609
9	Jimmie Foxx	1933	PHA	212	.449	.703	48	163	2	670
10	Hank Aaron	1971	ATL	212	.410	.669	47	118	1	573
11	Dan Brouthers	1885	BFN	212	.408	.543	7	59	0	441
12	Lou Gehrig	1934	NYA	210	.465	.706	49	165	9	690
13	Frank Thomas	1994	CHA	209	.487	.729	38	101	2	517
14	Roger Connor	1885	NY1	207	.435	.495	1	65	0	506
15	Lou Gehrig	1930	NYA	206	.473	.721	41	174	12	703
16	Cap Anson	1886	CHN	204	.433	.544	10	147	29	559
17	Dan Brouthers	1882	BFN	204	.403	.547	6	63	0	372
18	Cal McVey	1875	BS1	203	.356	.517	3	87	7	390
19	Cap Anson	1881	CHN	203	.442	.510	1	82	0	369
20	Jimmie Foxx	1939	BOS	202	.464	.694	35	105	4	563
21	Deacon White	1877	BSN	202	.405	.545	2	49	0	274
22	John Reilly	1884	CN2	201	.366	.551	11	91	0	467
23	Harry Stovey	1884	PH4	200	.368	.545	10	83	0	478
24	Jimmie Foxx	1938	BOS	199	.462	.704	50	175	5	685
25	Lou Gehrig	1928	NYA	199	.467	.648	27	142	4	677
26	Albert Pujols	2008	SLN	198	.462	.653	37	116	7	641
27	Dan Brouthers	1884	BFN	198	.378	.563	14	79	0	431
28	Lou Gehrig	1931	NYA	197	.446	.662	46	184	17	738
29	Lou Gehrig	1936	NYA	197	.478	.696	49	152	3	719
30	Stan Musial	1946	SLN	197	.434	.587	16	103	7	702
31	Todd Helton	2000	COL	197	.463	.698	42	147	5	697
32	Carl Yastrzemski	1970	BOS	197	.452	.592	40	102	23	697
33	Jason Giambi	2001	OAK	197	.477	.660	38	120	2	671
34	Mark McGwire	1996	OAK	197	.467	.730	52	113	0	548
35	Dave Orr	1884	NY4	196	.362	.539	9	112	0	464
36	Dan Brouthers	1883	BFN	196	.397	.572	3	97	0	441
37	Albert Pujols	2009	SLN	195	.443	.658	47	135	16	700
38	Johnny Mize	1939	SLN	195	.444	.626	28	108	0	670
39	Jim Thome	2002	CLE	194	.445	.677	52	118	1	613
40	Cap Anson	1888	CHN	194	.400	.499	12	84	28	563
41	Freddie Freeman	2020	ATL	194	.462	.640	13	53	2	262
42	George Sisler	1920	SLA	193	.449	.632	19	122	42	692
43	Harmon Killebrew	1967	MIN	193	.408	.558	44	113	1	689
44	Johnny Mize	1940	SLN	193	.404	.636	43	137	7	666
45	Roger Connor	1886	NY1	193	.405	.540	7	71	17	526
46	Jimmie Foxx	1934	PHA	192	.449	.653	44	130	11	652
47	Todd Helton	2001	COL	191	.432	.685	49	146	7	696
48	Willie McCovey	1970	SFN	191	.444	.612	39	126	0	638
49	Johnny Mize	1938	SLN	191	.422	.614	27	102	0	609
50	Jim Gentile	1961	BAL	191	.423	.646	46	141	1	601
51	Cap Anson	1884	CHN	190	.373	.543	21	102	0	504
52	Todd Helton	2003	COL	189	.458	.630	33	117	0	703
53	Jimmie Foxx	1935	PHA	189	.461	.636	36	115	6	649
54	Lou Gehrig	1937	NYA	188	.473	.643	37	159	4	700
55	Dan Brouthers	1891	BS2	188	.471	.512	5	109	31	597
56	Dolph Camilli	1937	PHI	188	.446	.587	27	80	6	570
57	Jack Clark	1987	SLN	188	.459	.597	35	106	1	558
58	Dave Orr	1885	NY4	188	.358	.543	6	77	0	455
59	Cap Anson	1882	CHN	188	.397	.500	1	83	0	368
60	Todd Helton	2004	COL	187	.469	.620	32	96	3	683
61	Hank Greenberg	1938	DET	187	.438	.683	58	146	7	681
62	John Olerud	1993	TOR	187	.473	.599	24	107	0	679
63	Derrek Lee	2005	CHN	186	.418	.662	46	107	15	691
64	Mark McGwire	1999	SLN	186	.424	.697	65	147	0	661
65	Jimmie Foxx	1929	PHA	186	.463	.625	33	118	9	638
66	Albert Pujols	2006	SLN	186	.431	.671	49	137	7	634
67	Carlos Delgado	2000	TOR	185	.470	.664	41	137	0	711
68	Willie McCovey	1968	SFN	185	.378	.545	36	105	4	608
69	Roger Connor	1888	NY1	184	.389	.480	14	71	27	558
70	Stan Musial	1957	SLN	183	.422	.612	29	102	1	579
71	Jack Fournier	1915	CHA	183	.429	.491	5	77	21	514
72	Joey Votto	2015	CIN	182	.459	.541	29	80	11	695
73	Miguel Cabrera	2011	DET	182	.448	.586	30	105	2	688
74	Jason Giambi	2000	OAK	182	.476	.647	43	137	2	664
75	Ryan Howard	2006	PHI	181	.425	.659	58	149	0	704
76	Paul Goldschmidt	2015	ARI	181	.435	.570	33	110	21	694
77	Miguel Cabrera	2010	DET	181	.420	.622	38	126	3	648
78	Joey Votto	2010	CIN	181	.424	.600	37	113	16	648
79	Albert Pujols	2004	SLN	180	.415	.657	46	123	5	692
80	Will Clark	1989	SFN	180	.407	.546	23	111	8	675
81	Hank Greenberg	1946	DET	180	.373	.604	44	127	5	604
82	Frank Robinson	1960	CIN	180	.407	.595	31	83	13	562
83	Stan Musial	1950	SLN	179	.437	.596	28	109	5	645
84	Ted Kluszewski	1954	CIN	178	.407	.642	49	141	0	659
85	Albert Pujols	2005	SLN	177	.430	.609	41	117	16	700
86	Albert Pujols	2010	SLN	177	.414	.596	42	118	14	700
87	Rod Carew	1977	MIN	177	.449	.570	14	100	23	694
88	Frank Thomas	1997	CHA	177	.456	.611	35	125	1	649
89	Willie McCovey	1966	SFN	177	.391	.586	36	96	2	588
90	Jeff Bagwell	1996	HOU	176	.451	.570	31	120	21	719
91	Joey Votto	2017	CIN	176	.454	.578	36	100	5	707
92	Harmon Killebrew	1961	MIN	176	.405	.606	46	122	1	656
93	Fred McGriff	1992	SDN	176	.394	.556	35	104	8	632
94	Jim Hickman	1970	CHN	176	.419	.582	32	115	0	613
95	John Mayberry	1972	KCA	176	.394	.507	25	100	0	588
96	Prince Fielder	2011	MIL	175	.415	.566	38	120	1	692
97	Frank Thomas	1993	CHA	175	.426	.607	41	128	4	676
98	Paul Goldschmidt	2022	SLN	174	.404	.578	35	115	7	649
99	Frank Thomas	1995	CHA	174	.454	.606	40	111	3	647
100	Orlando Cepeda	1963	SFN	174	.366	.563	34	97	8	629
101	Frank Chance	1906	CHN	174	.419	.430	3	71	57	574
102	Andres Galarraga	1993	COL	174	.403	.602	22	98	2	506
103	Frank Thomas	1992	CHA	173	.439	.536	24	115	6	711
104	Jason Giambi	2002	NYA	173	.435	.598	41	122	2	689
105	Boog Powell	1970	BAL	173	.412	.549	35	114	1	643
106	Bob Allison	1964	MIN	173	.404	.553	32	86	10	594
107	Phil Cavarretta	1945	CHN	173	.449	.500	6	97	5	586
108	Frank Chance	1905	CHN	173	.450	.434	2	70	38	502
109	Prince Fielder	2009	MIL	172	.412	.602	46	141	2	719
110	Vladimir Guerrero	2021	TOR	172	.401	.601	48	111	4	698
111	Chris Davis	2013	BAL	172	.370	.634	53	138	4	673
112	Orlando Cepeda	1967	SLN	172	.399	.524	25	111	11	644
113	Dick Allen	1969	PHI	172	.375	.573	32	89	9	506
114	John Mayberry	1975	KCA	171	.416	.547	34	106	5	683
115	Johnny Mize	1947	NY1	171	.384	.614	51	138	2	664
116	Lance Berkman	2006	HOU	171	.420	.621	45	136	3	646
117	Johnny Mize	1942	NY1	171	.380	.521	26	110	3	607
118	Willie Stargell	1972	PIT	171	.373	.558	33	112	1	569
119	Jose Abreu	2014	CHA	170	.383	.581	36	107	3	622
120	Carlos Peña	2007	TBA	170	.411	.627	46	121	1	612
121	Mark McGwire	1992	OAK	169	.385	.585	42	104	0	571
122	Cecil Fielder	1990	DET	168	.377	.592	51	132	0	673
123	Rudy York	1943	DET	168	.366	.527	34	118	5	661
124	Johnny Mize	1948	NY1	166	.395	.564	40	125	4	658
125	Frank Robinson	1959	CIN	166	.391	.583	36	125	18	626
126	George Burns	1918	PHA	166	.390	.467	6	70	8	544
127	Eddie Murray	1990	LAN	165	.414	.520	26	95	8	645
128	George Sisler	1919	SLA	165	.390	.530	10	83	28	561
129	Jake Stahl	1909	BOS	165	.377	.434	6	60	16	505
130	Will Clark	1988	SFN	164	.386	.508	29	109	9	689
131	George Sisler	1917	SLA	164	.390	.453	2	52	37	587
132	Andres Galarraga	1988	MON	163	.352	.540	29	92	13	661
133	Stan Musial	1955	SLN	163	.408	.566	33	108	5	656
134	Charlie Hickman	1902	BOS	163	.387	.539	11	110	9	564
135	Keith Hernandez	1979	SLN	162	.417	.513	11	105	11	698
136	Mickey Vernon	1946	WS1	162	.403	.508	8	85	14	638
137	Harry Davis	1906	PHA	162	.355	.459	12	96	23	614
138	Al Oliver	1982	MON	161	.392	.514	22	109	5	687
139	Don Mattingly	1986	NYA	160	.394	.573	31	113	0	742
140	Jason Thompson	1982	PIT	160	.391	.511	31	101	1	662
141	Mike Schmidt	1985	PHI	160	.375	.532	33	93	1	645
142	Hal Chase	1916	CIN	160	.363	.459	4	82	22	571
143	Fred Luderus	1915	PHI	160	.376	.457	7	62	9	560
144	Buck Freeman	1901	BOS	160	.400	.520	12	114	17	548
145	George Sisler	1918	SLA	160	.400	.440	2	41	45	506
146	Keith Hernandez	1980	SLN	159	.408	.494	16	99	14	690
147	Ted Kluszewski	1955	CIN	159	.382	.585	47	113	1	686
148	Fred McGriff	1989	TOR	159	.399	.525	36	92	7	680
149	Frank Chance	1903	CHN	159	.439	.440	2	81	67	531
150	Stan Musial	1958	SLN	158	.423	.528	17	62	0	549
151	Frank Chance	1904	CHN	158	.382	.430	6	49	42	514
152	Roy Sievers	1960	CHA	157	.396	.534	28	93	1	525
153	Nick Etten	1944	NYA	155	.399	.466	22	91	4	680
154	Mickey Vernon	1953	WS1	155	.403	.518	15	115	4	679
155	Ed Konetchy	1915	PTF	155	.363	.483	10	93	27	636
156	Dan McGann	1905	NY1	155	.391	.434	5	75	22	584
157	Jake Beckley	1902	CIN	155	.377	.427	5	69	15	579
158	Ted Kluszewski	1952	CIN	155	.383	.509	16	86	3	549
159	Jim Delahanty	1911	DET	151	.411	.463	3	94	15	628
160	Dick Hoblitzell	1909	CIN	151	.364	.418	4	67	17	592

Single seasons with PA >= 3.1 x the league's scheduled games that year (the batting-title rule shape, applied era-consistently). Era adjustment is league-season normalization only, not park-adjusted; WAR-style value is tracked separately.

How this leaderboard is built

Legends Deck rates every first baseman using real 2026 Statcast data. For hitters, the key inputs are exit velocity, barrel rate, xwOBA, sprint speed, whiff rate, and chase rate. No scout opinions, no card-by-card tuning: the same fixed pipeline for every player.

Full methodology: How Legends Deck card ratings work. Or read the ranked breakdown: Best First Basemen in MLB 2026.

The historical board above covers 1871-2025 and is built from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA): a season counts at a position when the player played the most games there that year, and seasons where pitching made up at least half of a player's games stay on the pitcher boards. Rankings use league-season-normalized OPS+ and ERA+ (no park adjustment); WAR-style value rankings are planned separately and not used here yet.

Questions

Who is the best first baseman in MLB 2026?

Ben Rice is the highest-rated first baseman in MLB 2026 on Legends Deck. The top three are Ben Rice, Willson Contreras, Nick Kurtz, ranked by a percentile transform of real Statcast data refreshed nightly.

How are MLB first basemen ranked on Legends Deck?

Hitters are scored on a percentile-normalized blend of exit velocity, barrel rate, xwOBA, sprint speed, whiff rate, and chase rate — pulled live. No editorial weights, just math.

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