This week’s first baseman fantasy baseball free agency primer looks a lot like last week’s fantasy baseball free agency primer for first base. Chock it up to getting in early on players or fantasy baseball players moving at a glacial pace on available first baseman. Either way, plus options still exist on the waiver wire in most fantasy baseball leagues. Below are three first basemen available in over 50% of Yahoo! leagues. Both were in last week’s article; Mitch Moreland has been a mainstay. The newcomer this week has availability in over 90% of Yahoo! leagues.
[Jeff]
Mitch Moreland, Boston (29% owned)
Last week I wrote about how Moreland was on the verge of putting some over the fence. He’s done that over the past week, and he has gotten his due from fantasy baseball scribes recently. So far on the season, he has a .315 average, 10 run, 9 RBI and hit his second home run Saturday. If you need a 1B, go get him before it’s too late. His power so far doesn’t seem to be a mirage, either. His Barrel Rate sits just above Bryce Harper and Nolan Arenado.
Yuli Gurriel, Houston (29% owned)
Just like Moreland, I wrote about Gurriel last week, and just like Moreland, he’s gotten even better since then. Gurriel still swings at everything, but he’s adapting to MLB pitching. Over the last week, he’s 10/21 with a home run, 4 runs, and 4 RBI. He’s batting low in Houston’s lineup, which means more RBI opportunity. If he keeps hitting, however, he should move up. That would get him a good mix of runs and RBI from here on out.
Yonder Alonso, Oakland (3% owned)
Tim Beckham (4% owned) also a good play, but his multi-positional eligibility finds you better served to stick him at another position. Justin Smoak has also continued his hot-hitting ways, but I saved you a copy-and-paste from last week’s article. Instead, Yonder Alonso is running hot, with two home runs, 3 R and 3 RBI over the last week. So far this year, he has a .292/.370/.563 with three dingers (10 RBI). He’s hitting well, well enough to slide him onto your roster in deeper leagues. Keep in mind, however, he is platooning, so only make this play in daily transaction leagues. Still, Alonso is on the strong side of the platoon, so he has plenty of opportunities.