Fantasy Baseball: First Base Positional Preview for 2025

The 2025 MLB season is right around the corner, and for fantasy baseball managers, this is peak draft season.

Ahead of drafts, we're previewing every fantasy baseball position, and this is the breakdown for first base.

Top Fantasy Baseball First Basemen for 2025

Here are the top 12 first basemen and their current average draft position (ADP), according to FantasyPros' ADP.

There's a clear top tier at the position with five players -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (14.0), Bryce Harper (19.8), Freddie Freeman (22.8), Matt Olson (28.3) and Pete Alonso (39.5) -- going within the top 40 picks while the 1B6 (Josh Naylor) comes off the board at 74th overall (on average).

Barring injury, everyone in the five-player top tier should thrive in 2025. Of the bunch, I'm particularly wary of Olson, who is a tough player to value. A year ago, Olson's ADP was 13.6 overall (1B2) as he was fresh off a 54-dinger campaign in 2023, but he underwhelmed in 2024, hitting 29 homers with a .339 wOBA. The 2023 season may prove to be an outlier for him as ZiPS is projecting just a slight bounce back in 2025, pegging Olson for 32 jacks and a .354 wOBA. If Olson hits under 35 HRs again, he may have a tough time living up to this ADP.

After the first tier, Christian Walker catches my eye. He's hit 36, 33 and 26 homers over the past three years, and while it's not ideal to invest in a 33-year-old whose HR tally has declined each of the last two seasons, Walker gets a boost with a move to the Houston Astros. In addition to being able to take advantage of the Crawford Boxes in left, Walker's counting stats could jump with him being in a better lineup. Steamer forecasts him for 31 tanks, 95 RBI and 83 runs.

Undervalued First Basemen for Fantasy Baseball

Beyond the top names, here are two 1B being drafted outside the top 100 who I have my eye on.

Jake Burger (TEX) | ADP: 116.0 (1B14)

Jake Burger has been a sneaky-good player the past two years, and after toiling away on bad offenses up to this point in his career, he's now surrounded by plenty of weapons on the Texas Rangers. Since the start of 2023, Burger has popped 63 taters with a .337 wOBA, 39.3% hard-hit rate, 39.7% fly-ball rate and 156 RBI. If he simply keeps doing what he's been doing, he's an appealing target at this ADP, but there's a chance for a career-best year in the RBI department in Texas.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (CIN) | ADP: 252.6 (1B27)

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is one of my favorite fantasy baseball sleepers for 2025. In the minors, CES showed big-time power, hitting 32 homers in a full season in 2022 before mashing 20 bombs in just 322 Triple-A plate appearances in 2023 prior to getting called up. His MLB career hasn't yet taken off after a wrist injury limited Encarnacion-Strand to only 123 plate appearances a season ago. Things did not go well at all in that small sample (.223 wOBA and 2 HR), but CES' MLB debut in 2023 went much better as he launched 13 homers with a .346 wOBA in 241 plate appearances. Playing his home games in a HR-friendly park, Encarnacion-Strand could break out in 2025 if he's able to put the wrist injury behind him.

Late-Round First Basemen for Fantasy Baseball

Here are two names going outside the top 250 picks who I wouldn't mind taking a shot on.

Deyvison De Los Santos (MIA) | ADP: 374.8 (1B38)

• Depending on your league size, you might not need to dig this deep in your draft, but Deyvison De Los Santos is a name to have on your radar. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for power prospects (see: the player above), and while De Los Santos might struggle with Ks at the MLB level, the power is real. FanGraphs gave him 70-grade raw power, and De Los Santos hammered 42 dingers (yes, 42) in the minors last year. De Los Santos might open the year in Triple-A, but the Miami Marlins are listed at +2500 odds to make the MLB playoffs so they'll likely give him a shot sooner rather than later. ZiPS has him hitting 24 homers over 577 plate appearances. If he gets that much playing time, he's a great late-round dart throw.

Kris Bryant (COL) | ADP: 489.0 (1B45)

• I know, I know -- Kris Bryant can't stay healthy. The former MVP has been a colossal bust with the Colorado Rockies, registering just 17 total homers over the last three years after signing a big free agent deal. While the 33-year-old might be totally washed, I'm still a wee bit interested. Bryant's K rate over 671 plate appearances with the Rox is just 21.3%, and his fly-ball rate is a respectable 38.6%. He could have some juice left. If he can stay somewhat healthy, Bryant could potentially push for 25 homers, although that's clearly a very large if. You don't need to draft him; just have him on your waiver radar. He may wind up being a decent streaming play when the Rockies are at home.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.